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CHRISTMAS 


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THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK   OF   CHRISTMAS 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


Set  up  and  electrotyped. 
Published,  October,  1911. 


Notfaooti  $reag 

J.  8.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


IS  THERE  A  SANTA  CLAUS? 

[This  question  addressed  to  The  Sun,  New  York,  received  this  reply. ] 

We  take  pleasure  in  answering  at  once  and  thus  prominently  the 
communication  below,  expressing  at  the  same  time  our  great  gratification 
that  its  faithful  author  is  numbered  among  the  friends  of  The  Sun :  — 

Dear  Editor:  I  am  8 years  old. 
Some  of  my  little  friends  say  there  is  no  Santa  Claus. 
Papa  says,  "  If  you  see  it  in  The  Sun  it's  so" 
Please  tell  me  the  truth ;  is  there  a  Santa  Claus  ? 

Virginia  O'Hjnlon. 

Virginia,  your  little  friends  are  wrong.  They  have  been  afflicted  by 
the  scepticism  of  a  sceptical  age.  They  do  not  believe  except  they  see. 
They  think  that  nothing  can  be  which  is  not  comprehensible  by  their  little 
minds.  All  minds,  Virginia,  whether  they  be  men's  or  children's,  are 
little.  In  this  great  universe  of  ours  man  is  a  mere  insect,  an  ant,  in  his 
intellect,  as  compared  with  the  boundless  world  about  him,  as  measured  by 
the  intelligence  capable  of  grasping  the  whole  of  truth  and  knowledge. 

Tes,  Virginia,  there  is  a  Santa  Claus.  He  exists  as  certainly  as 
love  and  generosity  and  devotion  exist,  and  you  know  that  they  abound 
and  give  to  your  life  its  highest  beauty  and  joy.  Alas  I  how  dreary 
would  be  the  world  if  there  were  no  Santa  Claus !  It  would  be  as 
dreary  as  if  there  were  no  Virginias.  There  would  be  no  childlike  faith 
then,  no  poetry,  no  romance,  to  make  tolerable  this  existence.      We  should 


vi  IS  THERE  A  SANTA  CLAUS? 

have  no  enjoyment,  except  in  sense  and  sight.      The  eternal  light  with 
which  childhood  Jills  the  world  would  be  extinguished. 

Not  believe  in  Santa  Claus !  Tou  might  as  well  not  believe  in 
fairies.  Tou  might  get  your  papa  to  hire  men  to  watch  in  all  the  chim- 
neys on  Christmas  Eve  to  catch  Santa  Claus,  but  even  if  they  did  not  see 
Santa  Claus  coming  down,  what  would  that  prove  ?  Nobody  sees  Santa 
Claus,  but  that  is  no  sign  that  there  is  no  Santa  Claus.  The  most  real 
things  in  the  world  are  those  that  neither  children  nor  men  can  see.  Did 
you  ever  see  fairies  dancing  on  the  lawn  f  Of  course  not,  but  thafs  no 
proof  that  they  are  not  there.  Nobody  can  conceive  or  imagine  all  the 
wonders  that  are  unseen  and  unseeable  in  the  world. 

Tou  may  tear  apart  the  baby's  rattle  and  see  what  makes  the  noise 
inside,  but  there  is  a  veil  covering  the  unseen  world  which  not  the  strong- 
est man,  nor  even  the  united  strength  of  all  the  strongest  men  that  ever 
lived,  could  tear  apart.  Only  faith,  fancy,  poetry,  love,  romance,  can 
push  aside  that  curtain  and  view  and  picture  the  supernal  beauty  and 
glory  beyond.  Is  it  all  real?  Ah,  Virginia,  in  all  this  world  there  is 
nothing  else  real  and  abiding. 

No  Santa  Claus !  Thank  God !  he  lives,  and  he  lives  forever. 
A  thousand  years  from  now,  Virginia,  nay,  ten  times  ten  thousand  years 
from  now,  he  will  continue  to  make  glad  the  heart  of  childhood. 

FRANK  P.  CHURCH. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Is  there  a  Santa  Claus  ? v 

An  Editorial  by  the  late  Frank  P.  Church  in  the  New  York  Sun. 

Christmas  Greens i 

Adapted  from  Some  Curiosities  of  Popular  Customs  by  William  S.  Walsh. 

I  saw  Three  Ships  come  Sailing  In 2 

A  Kentish  Version  of  an  old  English  Christmas  Carol. 

The  Angels  and  the  Shepherds 4 

The  Gospel  Story  as  in  the  Children's  Series  of  the  Modern  Reader's  Bible, 
edited  by  R.  G.  Moulton. 

While  Shepherds  Watched        .........         6 

The  famous  Christmas  hymn  written  in  about  1700  and  attributed  to  Nahum 
Tate. 

The  Wise  Men  from  the  East 7 

The  Gospel  Story  as  in  the  Children's  Series  of  the  Modern  Reader's  Bible, 
edited  by  R.  G.  Moulton. 

Strooiavond  in  Holland 9 

Adapted  from  Holland  by  Beatrix  Jungman  in  the  Peeps  at  Many  Lands  Series, 
with  one  paragraph  simplified  from  Servia  and  the  Servians  by  Chedo 
Mijatovich. 

How  St.  Nicholas  came  to  Volendam 12 

From  the  volume  on  Holland  by  Beatrix  Jungman  in  the  Peeps  at  Many  Lands 
Series. 

Keeping  Christmas  in  the  Old  Way 16 

From  an  entertaining  old  pamphlet  published  in  1740  entitled  "  Round  about 
Our  Coal  Fire,  or  Christmas  Entertainments,"  quoted  in  Christmas:  Its 
Origin  and  Associations  by  W.  F.  Dawson. 

As  Joseph  was  A-walking 20 

An  Old  English  Christmas  Carol  known  as  The  Cherry-tree  Carol.  In  many 
versions  another  stanza  said  to  be  of  later  origin  is  added. 


viii  CONTENTS 

^      PAGE 

The  "  Jule-Nissen"  and  Blowing  in  the  Yule 21 

From  The  Old  Town  by  Jacob  A.  Riis,  copyright  by  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1909. 

Christmas  Eve  in  Merry  England 23 

From  Marmion  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

When  Christmas  was  not  Merry 25 

Compiled  from  Christmas :  Its  Origin  and  Associations  by  W.  F.  Dawson,  and 
from  general  sources. 

Going  Home  for  Christmas 28 

From  Old  Christmas  at  Bracebridge  Hall  by  Washington  Irving. 

God  Rest  You  Merry,  Gentlemen 31 

An  Old  English  Carol. 

The  Date  of  Russia's  Christmastide 33 

Compiled  from  general  sources,  and  in  part  from  Russia  by  L.  Edna  Walter 
in  the  Peeps  at  Many  Lands  Series. 

St.  Barbara's  Grain 37 

Adapted  from  an  unsigned  article  in  Macmillan's  Magazine  and  from  Creole 
folk-lore. 

Before  the  Paling  of  the  Stars 38 

By  Christina  Rossetti. 

A  Midnight  Mass  in  France .39 

Adapted  from  an  article  in  Macmillan's  Magazine  with  added  details  drawn 
from  an  article  in  The  Century  by  Mme.  Th.  Bentzon. 

The  Christchild  and  the  Pine  Tree 42 

A  weaving  together  of  bits  of  folk-lore  drawn  chiefly  from  The  Child  and  Child- 
hood in  Folk-thought  by  Alexander  F.  Chamberlain. 

A  Birthday  Gift 44 

Part  of  a  hymn  for  children  by  Christina  Rossetti. 

The  Christmas  Fire  in  Servia 45 

Adapted  from  Servia  and  the  Servians  by  Chedo  Mijatovich. 

The  Day  of  the  Little  God 47 

From  Servia  and  the  Servians  by  Chedo  Mijatovich. 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

Nature  Folk-lore  of  Christmastide 50 

Compiled  from  several  sources,  including  The  Old  Town  by  Jacob  A.  Riis  and 
magazine  articles. 

Good  King  Wenceslas 53 

An  Old  English  Carol  in  the  version  by  John  Mason  Neale. 

A  Mexican  "Mystery"  seen  by  Bayard  Taylor 54 

From  Eldorado  by  Bayard  Taylor. 

Breaking  the  Pinate  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -57 

Collated  from  Mexico,  the  Wonderland  of  the  South  by  W.  E.  Carson,  copyright 
by  The  Macmillan  Company,  1909. 

Christmas  upon  a  Greenland  Iceberg      .......       59 

Collated  from  Christmas :  Its  Origin  and  Associations  by  W.  F.  Dawson,  and 
The  Great  White  North  by  Helen  S.  Wright. 

Luther's  Christmas  Carol  for  Children 61 

Translator  unknown. 

The  Good  Night  in  Spain 63 

Adapted  from  the  account  by  Ferdinand  Caballero,  translated  by  Katharine  Lee 
Bates. 

A  Christmas  Tree  in  Japan 66 

From  Letters  from  fapan  by  Mary  Crawford  Fraser,  copyright  by  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  1899. 

From  Far  Away 72 

A  Christmas  Carol  by  William  Morris. 

Lordings,  Listen  to  our  Lay 73 

A  fragment  of  the  earliest  existing  carol ;  sung  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
Where  the  Christmas  Toys  come  From  .......       74 

Compiled  from  general  sources,  including  In  Toy  land,  an  article  in  The  Royal 
Magazine,  copyright  by  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  Ltd. 

The  Making  of  a  Christmas  Doll  .         .         .        .         .        .         .        -76 

The  material  of  this  article  also  has  been  drawn  from  Tlie  Royal  Magazitie  by 
permission  of  its  publishers,  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  Ltd. 

Irina's  Day  on  the  Estates 79 

Adapted  from   Russia  by  L.  Edna   Walter   in   the   Peeps   at   Many  Lands 
Series. 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

A  Visit  from  St.  Nicholas        . 83 

By  Clement  C.  Moore. 

The  Cratchits'  Christmas  Dinner    .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .85 

From  A  Christmas  Carol  by  Charles  Dickens. 

After  the  Christmas  Dinner 88 

From  The  Old  Town  by  Jacob  A.  Riis,  copyright  by  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1909. 

Hang  up  the  Baby's  Stocking 89 

Author  unknown. 

A  German  Christmas  .         .         . 90 

Collated  from  Home  Life  in  Germany  by  Mrs.  Alfred  Sidgwick,  Music  Study 
in  Germany  by  Amy  Fay,  and  Elizabeth  and  Her  German  Garden. 

Crowded  Out       .         . 95 

By  Rosalie  M.  Jonas. 

An  English  "  Adoration  " 96 

Adapted  from    The  Children's  Book  of  Art  by  Miss  A.  E.  Conway  and    Sir 
Martin  Conway. 

The  Children's  Own  Saint 99 

Based  on  legends  chiefly  drawn  from  Curiosities  of  Popular  Customs  by  W.  S. 
Walsh. 

The  Befana  Fair  in  Rome  .  102 

From  Ave  Roma  Immortalis  by  F.  Marion  Crawford,  copyright  by  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  1898. 

The  Golden  Carol 104 

An  Old  English  Epiphany  Carol. 

Babouscka 105 

By  Carolyn  S.  Bailey.    Copyright  by  the  Milton  Bradley  Company.    Reprinted 
by  permission  from  For  the  Children's  Hour. 

The  Three  Kings 107 

Adapted  by  permission  from  The  Memoirs  of  Mistral,  copyright  by  the  Baker 
and  Taylor  Company,  1907. 

Christmas  Peace no 

From  The  Little  City  of  Hope  by  F.  Marion  Crawford,  copyright  by  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  1907. 


PLATES    IN    COLORS 

The  Annunciation    ....  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti     .       Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The  Nativity Botticelli           .         .         .        Facing  4 

Shepherds  and  Shepherd  Boy '20 

In  a  Christmas  Market  on  the  Neva 36 

The  Yule  Sheaf 52 

Nuremberg  Where  the  Toys  are  Made 72 

Roumanian  Boys  in  a  Religious  Procession 80 

An  English  "  Adoration  " 96 


ILLUSTRATIONS    IN    BLACK   AND   WHITE 


The  Shepherds  Adoring  . 

Ghirlandajo     .... 

8 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi 

Bernadino        .... 

12 

The  Adoration  of  the  King 

Veronese          .... 

16 

Holy  Night 

C.  Midler         .... 

24 

A  Christmas  Gift  on  the  Way  to  Christmas  Dinner          .... 

28 

The  Holy  Night      .... 

Correggio         .... 

32 

The  Bells 

Blashfield        .... 

40 

The  Triumph  of  the  Innocents 

Hunt       ..... 

44 

Bethlehem 

Hofmann    ..... 

48 

xii  ILLUSTRATIONS   IN  BLACK  AND   WHITE 

PAGE 

The  Christmas  Tree  Market  in  New  York 56 

Heads  of  the  Christ  Child  from  Raphael's  Paintings 60 

The  Holy  Family  with  the  Shepherds      ....       Titian         .         .     64 
Making  Glass  and  Tinsel  Ornaments  for  Christmas  Trees       .         .         .         .68 

Doll-making 76 

Wig-making .         .         .78 

A  Christmas  Tree  at  the  Immigration  Station,  New  York       .         .         .         .84 

"  We  joined  hands  and  danced  around  the  tree  " 88 

Dressing  Dolls  in  Germany  for  American  Christmas  Trees      .         .         .         .92 

An  American  Christmas  Tree 100 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi Memling     .         .104 

The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds Bouguereau  .   108 

COMPILER'S    NOTE 

Wherever  it  has  been  possible,  the  material  used  has  been  quoted  in  the 
exact  words  of  the  writer.  In  some  cases  omissions  have  been  made  of  sen- 
tences which  would  be  unintelligible  because  that  part  of  the  original  book  to 
which  they  refer  is  not  herein  included.  In  a  very  few  cases  where  the  books 
quoted  were  not  written  for  children,  the  selections  have  been  condensed  and 
the  language  simplified.     It  is  hoped  that  injustice  has  been  done  to  none. 


THE  CHILDREN'S   BOOK   OF 
CHRISTMAS 

Christmas.  Greens 

It  is  hard  for  you  who  have  never  felt  the  lack  of  heat  and 
light  to  know  what  the  long  dark  winter  must  have  meant 
to  the  men  of  long  ago  who  first  kept  the  midwinter  feast. 
Many  of  them  really  believed  that  as  the  days  grew  shorter 
and  shorter,  and  the  nights  long  and  cold,  there  was  danger 
that  the  sun  might  go  out  altogether  and  the  whole  world  die 
in  the  darkness.  When,  late  in  December,  the  days  began  to 
lengthen,  and  they  saw  that  the  sun  was  coming  back  to  bring 
again  the  flowers  and  the  summer  heat,  they  fancied  that  a 
new  sun  had  been  born.  So  then  for  gladness  they  kept  a 
feast  which  naturally  in  later  years  was  changed  into  a  festival 
in  honor  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  "  the  sun  of  righteousness." 

With  the  feast  itself  some  other  of  their  old  customs  have 
been  handed  down  to  us,  and  among  them  is  that  of  bringing 
into  the  house  in  midwinter  the  boughs  of  Christmas  green. 
For  these  far-away  folk  believed  that  wood-spirits  —  you  know 
them  as  brownies,  fairies,  and  elves — were  living  in  the  forests 
outside,  and  were  so  sorry  to  think  of  them  shivering  under 
the  snow-laden  trees  and  in  damp  icy  caves,  that  they  used  to 
place  in  the  corners  of  their  houses  great  branches  of  hemlock 
and  balsam  fir,  that  "  the  good  little  people  "  might  creep  into 


2  THE  CHILDREN'S  BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

the  sort  of  shelters  they  loved  and  be  warm.  And  as  the  heat 
of  the  fire  brought  out  the  sweet  smell  of  the  fir,  it  seemed 
to  them  like  a  "  thank  you  "  from  their  friends  of  the  summer 
woods.  Thus  they,  first  of  all  men,  felt  the  wish  to  give  which 
is  the  heart  of  the  Christmas  spirit.  And  soon  they  began 
to  hang  little  gifts  for  their  unseen  guest  upon  the  green 
boughs,  and  to  make  them"  bright  with  -the  berries  of  holly 
and  ash.  After  that  it  may  be  that  some  night  hunter,  crouch- 
ing in  the  underbrush,  looked  up  to  the  stars,  and  felt  that 
his  tree  was  incomplete  without  twinkling  lights.  However 
that  may  be,  the  custom  of  trimming  the  house  with  ever- 
greens, holly,  and  lights  at  Christmas  time  is  an  old,  old  one. 

I  saw  Three  Ships  come  sailing  in 

I  saw  three  ships  come  sailing  in, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 

I  saw  three  ships  come  sailing  in, 

On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 

And  what  was  in  those  ships  all  three, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day? 

And  what  was  in  those  ships  all  three, 
On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning? 

The  Virgin  Mary  and  Christ  were  there, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 

The  Virgin  Mary  and  Christ'  were  there, 
On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 


I   SAW  THREE   SHIPS 

Pray,  whither  sailed  those  ships  all  three, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day? 

Pray,  whither  sailed  those  ships  all  three, 
On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning? 

O  they  sailed  into  Bethlehem, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 
O  they  sailed  into  Bethlehem, 

On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 

And  all  the  bells  on  earth  shall  ring, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 
And  all  the  bells  on  earth  shall  ring, 

On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 

And  all  the  Angels  in  Heaven  shall  sing, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 

And  all  the  Angels  in  Heaven  shall  sing, 
On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 

And  all  the  souls  on  earth  shall  sing, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 

And  all  the  souls  on  earth  shall  sing, 

On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 

Then  let  us  all  rejoice  amain, 

On  Christmas  day,  on  Christmas  day; 
Then  let  us  all  rejoice  amain, 

On  Christmas  day  in  the  morning. 


4  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

The  Angels  and  the  Shepherds 

Now  in  the  days  of  Herod,  King  of  Judea,  the  angel 
Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  unto  a  city  in  Galilee  named 
Nazareth,  unto  a  virgin  whose  name  was  Mary,  to  whom  he 
said :  Hail,  thou  that  art  highly  favored !  the  Lord  is  with 
thee !  blessed  art  thou  among  women !  But  she  was  greatly 
troubled  by  his  greeting  and  wondered  what  such  words  could 
mean.  Fear  not,  Mary !  for  thou  hast  found  favor  with  God, 
he  said,  and  went  on  to  tell  her  of  the  Son  who  should  be 
hers,  and  whom  she  was  to  call  Jesus.  He  shall  be  great, 
she  was  told,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High ; 
and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne  of  his 
father  David;  and  he  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob 
forever;  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end. 

Now  it  came  to  pass  there  went  out  a  decree  from  Caesar 
Augustus,  that  all  the  world  should  be  enrolled.  And  all  went 
to  enroll  themselves,  every  one  to  his  own  city.  And  Joseph 
also  went  up  from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth,  into 
Judea,  to  the  city  of  David,  which  is  called  Bethlehem,  because 
he  was  of  the  house  of  the  family  of  David ;  to  enroll  himself 
with  Mary.  And  it  came  to  pass,  while  they  were  there  she 
brought  forth  her  firstborn  son ;  and  she  wrapped  him  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  laid  him  in  a  manger,  because  there 
was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn. 

And  there  were  shepherds  in  the  same  country  abiding  in 
the  field,  and  keeping  watch  by  night  over  their  flock.  And 
an  angel   of  the  Lord  stood  by  them,  and  the  glory  of  the 


THE  ANGELS  AND  THE  SHEPHERDS  5 

Lord  shone  round  about  them :  and  they  were  sore  afraid. 
And  the  angel  said  unto  them,  Be  not  afraid;  for  behold  I 
bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all 
the  people:  for  there  is  born  to  you  this  day  in  the  city  of 
David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  this  is  the 
sign  unto  you ;  ye  shall  find  a  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling 
clothes,  and  lying  in  a  manger.  And  suddenly  there  was 
with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  praising  God, 
and  saying: 

Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 

And  on  earth  peace 

Among  men  in  whom  he  is  well  pleased. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  angels  went  away  from 
them  into  heaven,  the  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Let  us 
now  go  even  unto  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing  that  is  come 
to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  known  unto  us.  And 
they  came  with  haste,  and  found  both  Mary  and  Joseph,  and 
the  babe  lying  in  the  manger.  And  when  they  saw  it  they 
made  known  concerning  the  saying  which  was  spoken  to  them 
about  this  child.  And  all  that  heard  it  wondered  at  the  things 
which  were  spoken  unto  them  by  the  shepherds.  But  Mary 
kept  all  these  sayings,  pondering  them  in  her  heart.  And 
the  shepherds  returned,  glorifying  and  praising  God  for  all 
the  things  that  they  had  heard  and  seen,  even  as  it  was  spoken 
unto  them. 

And  when  eight  days  were  fulfilled  his  name  was  called 

JESUS. 


6  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

While  Shepherds  Watched 

While  shepherds  watch'd  their  flocks  by  night, 

All  seated  on  the  ground, 
The  Angel  of  the  Lord  came  down, 

And  glory  shone  around. 

"  Fear  not,"  said  he  (for  mighty  dread 
Had  seized  their  troubled  mind); 

"  Glad  tidings  of  great  joy  I  bring 
To  you  and  all  mankind. 

"To  you  in  David's  town  this  day 

Is  born  of  David's  line 
The  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord; 

And  this  shall  be  the  sign: 

"The  heavenly  Babe  you  there  shall  find 

To  human  view  display'd, 
All  meanly  wrapt  in  swathing-bands ; 

And  in  a  manger  laid." 

Thus  spake  the  seraph ;  and  forthwith 

Appear'd  a  shining  throng 
Of  angels  praising  God,  and  thus 

Address'd  their  joyful  song: 

"All  glory  be  to  God  on  high, 

And  to  the  earth  be  peace; 
Good-will  henceforth  from  heaven  to  men 

Begin,  and  never  cease ! " 


THE  WISE   MEN  FROM   THE  EAST  7 

The  Wise  Men  from  the  East 

Now  when  Jesus  was  born,  behold,  Wise  men  from  the 
east  came  to  Jerusalem,  saying,  Where  is  he  that  is  born 
King  of  the  Jews?  for  we  saw  his  star  in  the  east,  and  are 
come  to  worship  him.  And  when  Herod  the  king  heard  it, 
he  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him.  And  gathering 
together  all  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the  people,  he 
inquired  of  them  where  the  Christ  should  be  born.  And  they 
said  unto  him,  In  Bethlehem  of  Judea:  for  thus  it  is  written 
by  the  prophet:  And  thou  Bethlehem,  land  of  Judah>  art  in 
no  wise  least  among  the  princes  of  fudah :  for  out  of  thee 
shall  come  forth  a  governor,  which  shall  be  shepherd  of  my 
people  Israel.  Then  Herod  privily  called  the  Wise  men,  and 
learned  of  them  carefully  what  time  the  star  appeared.  And 
he  sent  them  to  Bethlehem,  and  said,  Go  and  search  out 
carefully  concerning  the  young  child ;  and  when  ye  have  found 
him,  bring  me  word  that  I  also  may  come  and  worship  him. 
And  they,  having  heard  the  king,  went  their  way;  and  lo,  the 
star,  which  they  saw  in  the  east,  went  before  them,  till  it 
came  and  stood  over  where  the  young  child  was.  And  when 
they  saw  the  star,  they  rejoiced  with  exceeding  great  joy. 
And  they  came  into  the  house  and  saw  the  young  child  with 
Mary  his  mother ;  and  they  fell  down  and  worshipped  him ; 
and  opening  their  treasures  they  offered  unto  him  gifts,  gold 
and  frankincense  and  myrrh.  And  being  warned  of  God  in  a 
dream  that  they  should  not  return  to  Herod,  they  departed 
into  their  own  country  another  way. 


8  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Now  when  they  were  departed,  behold  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  appeareth  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  saying,  Arise  and  take 
the  young  child  and  his  mother  and  flee  into  Egypt^and  be 
thou  there  until  I  tell  thee:  for  Herod  will  seek  the  young 
child  to  destroy  him.  And  he  arose  and  took  the  young 
child  and  his  mother  by  night,  and  departed  into  Egypt ;  and 
was  there  until  the  death  of  Herod.  Then  Herod,,  when  he 
saw  that  he  was  mocked  of  the  Wise  men  was  exceeding 
wroth,  and  sent  forth,  and  slew  all  the  male  children  that  were 
in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the  borders  thereof,  from  two  years 
old  and  under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  carefully 
learned  of  the  Wise  men.  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was 
spoken  by  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  saying :  A  voice  was  heard 
in  Ramah,  weeping  and  great  mourning,  Rachel  weeping  for 
her  children;  and  she  would  not  be  comforted,  because  they 
are  not. 

But  when  Herod  was  dead,  behold,  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeareth  in  a  dream  to  Joseph  in  Egypt,  saying,  Arise  and 
take  the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and  go  into  the  land  of 
Israel:  for  they  are  dead  that  sought  the  young  child's  life. 
And  he  arose  and  took  the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and 
came  into  the  land  of  Israel.  But  when  he  heard  that  Arche- 
laus  was  reigning  over  Judea  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod, 
he  was  afraid  to  go  thither;  and  being  warned  of  God  in  a 
dream,  he  withdrew  into  the  parts  of  Galilee,  and  came  and 
dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nazareth :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets,  that  he  should  be  called 
a  Nazarene. 


x 


STROOIAVOND   IN   HOLLAND  9 

Strooiavond  in   Holland 

A  Dutch  boy  does  not  have  to  wait  until  December  25 
for  the  great  gift-day  of  the  year.  He  is  one  of  those  who 
look  for  the  gift-bringing  saint  on  the  eve  of  his  own  day 
which  falls  on  December  6.  For  days  beforehand  the  shops 
have  been  filled  with  toys  and  gaily  trimmed,  and  on  the 
evening  of  December  5  St.  Nicholas  is  supposed  by  the  little 
ones  to  make  choice  of  the  special  treasure  intended  for  little 
Dutch  Jan  or  Martje.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  children's 
treats  to  go  out  on  that  night  to  see  the  shops ;  and  in  the 
doorway  of  many  of  them  stands  a  gorgeously  clad  likeness 
of  the  saint. 

At  home  the  children  in  turn  are  visited  by  the  saint ;  in 
he  walks  carrying  a  big  sackful  of  candies,  oranges,  apples, 
and  so  forth,  which  he  scatters  on  the  floor.  Indeed,  the  Eve 
of  St.  Nicholas  is  called  in  Holland  Strooiavond,  which  means 
"  strewing  evening."  This  idea  of  a  strewing  evening  crops 
up  curiously  often  as  one  reads  of  the  various  customs  con- 
nected with  the  December  holidays  the  world  over.  In 
southern  France  the  Provencal  women  strew  wheat  on  the 
surface  of  shallow  dishes  of  water,  planting  St.  Barbara's 
grain;  in  Mexico  the  children  try  to  break  with  a  long  stick 
a  bag  or  jug  swung  high  above  their  heads,  scattering  the 
contents  at  last  all  over  the  floor. 

In  some  parts  of  Servia  there  is  found  among  the  Christ 
mas  customs  one  which  is  probably  the  remnant  of  an  early 
rite  from  which  all   of  these  "  strewing  evenings  "  come.     In 


io  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

that  country,  after  the  Christmas  fire  has  been  started  with 
due  ceremonies,  the  mother  of  the  family  brings  in  a  bundle 
of  straw  which  has  been  made  ready  early  in  the  day.  All  the 
young  children  arrange  themselves  behind  her  in  a  row.  She 
then  starts  walking  slowly  about  the  hall,  and  all  the  adjoining 
rooms,  throwing  on  the  floor  handfuls  of  straw,  and  at  the 
same  time  imitating  the  hen's  sounds,  "  Kock  .  .  .  kock  .  .  . 
kock ; "  while  all  the  children,  representing  the  hen's  little 
chickens,  merrily  follow  shouting,  "  Peeyoo !  .  .  .  peeyoo!  .  .  . 
peeyoo !  "  The  floor  well  strewn  with  straw,  and  the  little  folk 
in  breathless  heaps  upon  it,  the  oldest  man  of  the  family  throws 
a  few  walnuts  in  every  corner  of  the  hall.  After  this  a  large 
pot,  or  a  small  wooden  box,  is  filled  with  wheat  and  placed 
a  little  higher  than  a  man's  head  in  the  east  corner  of  the  hall. 
In  the  middle  of  the  wheat  is  fixed  a  tall  candle  of  yellow 
wax.  The  father  of  the  family  then  reverently  lights  the 
candle,  and,  folding  his  arms  on  his  breast,  he  prays,  while  all 
who  are  present  stand  silently  behind  him,  asking  God  to 
bless  the  family  with  health  and  happiness,  to  bless  the  fields 
with  good  harvests,  the  beehives  with  plenty  of  honey,  the 
sheep  with  many  lambs,  the  cows  with  rich  creamy  milk,  and 
so  on.  When  he  finishes  his  prayer,  he  bows  deeply  before 
the  burning  candle,  and  all  those  standing  behind  him  do  the 
same.  He  then  turns  toward  them  and  says,  "  May  God 
hear  our  prayer,  and  may  He  grant  us  all  health ! "  to  which 
they  answer,  "  God  grant  it.     Amen  !  " 

In  Holland  the  very  little  children  believe  that  while  they 
are   busy   gathering   up    the   saint's    goodies,    or   else   in   the 


STROOIAVOND   IN   HOLLAND  n 

night,  he  hides  away  the  presents  meant  for  them  all  over  the 
house.  Before  they  go  to  bed  they  place  their  largest  shoes  — 
wooden  sabots,  such  as  you  see  in  almost  every  picture  of 
Dutch  children  —  in  the  chimney  place,  where  in  the  morning 
they  find  them  stuffed  with  fruit,  nuts,  and  sweets.  There  are 
no  lie-a-beds  in  Holland  on  St.  Nicholas'  morning.  There  is 
a  glorious  game  of  "  seek-and-find  "  going  on  in  every  house 
where  there  are  children.  Piet  takes  down  one  of  the  shining 
copper  saucepans  hanging  beside  the  chimney  place  and  finds 
curled  up  inside  it  the  many-petticoated  doll  which  of  course 
he  hands  over  to  a  delighted  little  sister,  who  has  somewhere 
discovered  his  box  of  gaily  painted  leaden  soldiers.  There  are 
plenty  of  hiding  holes  in  an  old  Dutch  house ;  thick  oak 
beams  support  the  walls  and  roofs  and  make  wide  ledges  upon 
which  Rupert  may  find  a  packet  containing  two  flat  silver 
buttons  which  once  belonged  to  his  great-grandfather.  He  is 
the  oldest  son,  beginning  to  be  particular  about  his  striped 
waistcoats  and  the  tight  fit  of  his  blue  or  red  coat.  He  will 
be  immensely  proud  to  wear,  as  every  other  man  in  the  old  village 
does,  two  silver  buttons  at  the  waist  of  his  baggy  trousers. 
In  the  parts  of  Holland  where  the  new  fashions  have  not 
spoiled  the  old,  silver  buttons  are  to  the  men  what  such  coral 
necklaces  as  Rupert's  sister  wears  are  to  the  women.  These 
buttons  are  always  as  big  as  the  men  can  afford,  and  some- 
times are  like  saucers ;  the  little  boys,  even  the  tiniest  ones, 
are  dressed  exactly  after  the  pattern  of  their  fathers,  but  their 
two  flat  buttons  are  smaller,  about  as  large  as  fifty-cent  pieces, 
and  stamped  with  some  design,  the  favorite  one  being  a  ship. 


12  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

When  all  the  gifts  have  been  hunted  out  (down  to  a  pair 
of  skates  with  long  curved  tips  for  a  boy  so  little  that  you 
would  think  St.  Nicholas  must  have  made  a  mistake  if  you 
did  not  know  that  Dutch  children  learn  to  skate  almost  as  early 
as  you  learn  to  walk),  the  children  are  ready  for  the  season's 
other  special  treat,  the  gingerbread  cakes.  Delicately  spiced 
gingerbread  is  made  into  many  fantastic  shapes,  but  every 
one,  young  or  old,  receives  a  gingerbread  doll.  Figures  of 
men  are  given  to  the  women  folk,  and  of  women  in  ruffles  and 
straight  skirts  to  the  men.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  exactly 
like  these  gingerbread  figures  are  in  outline  to  those  in  early 
Dutch  paintings.  The  models  from  which  they  are  patterned 
frequently  date  from  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 


How  St.   Nicholas  Came  to  Volendam 

One  winter  I  was  staying  with  my  husband  at  the 
little  fishing  village  of  Volendam,  and  we  wished  that 
the  little  Volendamers,  who  are  all  very  poor,  should  for 
once  have  a  splendid  St.  Nicholas.  A  French  artist,  who 
was  there  at  the  same  time,  was  of  our  opinion,  and  we 
were  equally  supported  by  our  host  Spaander  and  his  wife 
and  their  family  of  blooming  daughters.  In  the  wooden 
hotel  there  is  a  "  coffee-room,"  long  and  low,  of  really  vast 
proportions.  In  the  summer-time  half  of  it  forms  the  draw- 
ing-room. At  the  farther  end  of  this  apartment  is  a  small 
stage,  with  wings.  On  this  occasion  (thanks  to  Spaander) 
the  whole   of   it  was    covered  in  spotless  white,  tables  were 


HOW  ST.   NICHOLAS   CAME  TO  VOLENDAM  13 

erected,  and  upon  their  surface  were  arranged  about  a 
thousand  toys  and  as  many  oranges  and  cakes.  A  white 
throne  was  placed  for  St.  Nicholas,  whose  part  was  taken 
by  the  Frenchman.  He  wore  a  long  white  woollen  robe 
falling  over  a  purple  silk  underdress,  a  cape  of  costly  old 
yellow  brocade,  and  a  gorgeous  jewelled  mitre,  and  he 
was  made  venerable  by  long  white  hair  and  beard.  The 
dress  of  the  black  slave,  whose  part  was  taken  by  my 
husband,  was  equally  correct  and  effective  —  a  long  tight- 
fitting  garment  of  green  velvet,  showing  a  white  robe 
underneath ;  an  orange  silk  turban  was  wound  round  the 
black  locks  of  a  disguising  wig  and  lit  up  his  cork-black 
face.  So  much  for  the  preparations,  completed  with  con- 
siderable trouble  and  a  great  deal  of  amusement. 

My  husband  painted  a  large  poster,  on  which  was  set 
forth  a  notice  to  all  the  children  of  Volendam  that  at  6.30 
a  boat  would  land  upon  the  quay,  bearing  St.  Nicholas 
and  his  faithful  slave  laden  with  gifts.  One  may  easily 
imagine  the  joy  and  delight  of  these  poor  fisher-children, 
into  whose  uneventful  lives  what  English  children  call  a 
treat  hardly  ever  enters.  They  crowded  about  the  an- 
nouncement, and  read  that  St.  Nicholas  would  come 
laden  with  gifts.  Who  can  say  what  wild,  beautiful  hopes 
filled  their  hearts  ?  Before  five  o'clock  the  youngsters 
began  to  assemble.  The  quay  was  crowded  with  them, 
so  was  the  narrow  road  leading  from  the  quay  to  the 
hotel.  The  parents  also  were  there,  quite  as  excited  and 
almost   as    credulous    as    their   children.      Indeed,    all    Volen- 


i4  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

dam  turned  out  to  welcome  the  saint.  Rain  began  to 
fall;  but,  although  it  soaked  their  poor  clothes,  it  seemed 
to  have  no  damping  effect  upon  their  spirits,  all  afire  as 
they  were  with  expectation.  Meanwhile,  the  saint  and  his 
slave  rowed  out  to  their  boat.  It  was  now  almost  dark, 
but  in  the  faint  light  one  could  still  distinguish  the  fish- 
ing-boats which  always  crowd  the  harbor,  their  tall  masts 
and  sails  dimly  defined  against  the  gray  sky,  and  their 
narrow  flags  gently  flapping  in  the  rain.  At  one  point 
there  was  an  opening  between  the  boats,  a  glimmering 
waterway,  where  those  who  were  in  the  secret  expected 
the  boat  to  appear.  The  time  passed  slowly.  It  was 
seven  o'clock;  and  every  one  was  very  wet.  Still,  all  Volen- 
dam  was  full  of  cheerful  good  humor. 

At  length  a  blaze  of  bright  light  far  out  on  the  water 
revealed  the  saint  —  a  venerable  figure  standing  in  the 
boat,  crosier  in  hand,  evidently  blessing  the  expectant  crowd. 
In  a  few  moments  the  boat  reached  the  landing-place. 
With  blare  of  trumpets,  and  by  the  light  of  the  torches, 
a  procession  was  formed.  How  radiant  were  the  faces  illu- 
mined by  the  flickering  glow!  Soon  the  warm,  well-lighted 
cafe  was  reached.  The  saint  sat  on  his  throne,  and  his  good 
slave  rapidly  distributed  presents  to  the  little  ones,  safely 
housed  from  the  inclement  weather !  Alas !  they  were 
very  wet;  but,  as  not  one  of  the  seven  hundred  coughed 
during  the  distribution,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  young 
Volendamers  do  not  easily  take  cold.  Their  surroundings 
are  so  damp  that  they  are  almost  amphibious. 


HOW  ST.   NICHOLAS   CAME  TO  VOLENDAM  15 

Every  face  beamed  with  happiness.  The  genial  St. 
Nicholas  and  his  hard-worked  slave ;  the  Spaander  family 
all  helping  vigorously;  the  three  fine,  tall  Volendamers, 
who,  in  their  yellow  scarves  of  office,  kept  order  so  gently 
and  gaily;  down  to  the  very  youngest  child, —  all  the  faces 
were  sweet  and  patient,  and  aglow  with  the  pleasure  either 
of  giving  or  receiving. 

The  crowd  of  children  looked  plump  and  healthy, 
and  although  many  garments  were  much  patched,  there 
were  no  rags;  the  poorest  seemed  to  be  well  cared  for 
and  comfortable. 

Seven  hundred  of  them  were  made  happy  with  toys 
and  fruit ;  but  there  was  no  scrambling  or  pushing,  nothing 
but  happy  expectation,  and  then  still  more  happy  satisfac- 
tion. All  too  soon  it  was  over;  the  last  child  clattered 
down  the  long  room  with  its  precious  armful. 

Afterwards  we  heard  from  the  schoolteachers  and  the 
children's  parents  that  most  of  them  believed  firmly  that 
it  was  the  real  saint  descended  from  heaven  who  had  laid 
his    hands    on    their   heads    in    benediction    as    they    received 

their  presents  from  the  black  slave. 

—  Beatrix  Jungman. 


i6  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Keeping  Christmas  in  the  Old  Way 

There  is  an  amusing  account  of  how  Christmas  used 
to  be  observed  in  England  in  the  time  of  George  II,  in  a 
little  book  called  "  Round  about  our  Coal  Fire,  or  Christmas 
Entertainments,"  published  in   1740.     The  author  begins:  — 

"  First  acknowledging  the  sacredness  of  the  Holy  Time 
of  Christmas,  I  proceed  to  set  forth  the  Rejoicings  which 
are  generally  made  at  the  great  Festival. 

"  You  must  understand,  good  People,  that  the  manner  of 
celebrating  this  great  Course  of  Holydays  is  vastly  different 
now  to  what  it  was  in  former  days :  There  was  once  upon 
a  time  Hospitality  in  the  land ;  an  English  Gentleman  at 
the  opening  of  the  great  Day,  had  all  his  Tenants  and  Neigh- 
bours enter'd  his  Hall  by  Day-break,  the  strong  Beer  was 
broach'd,  and  the  Black  Jacks  went  plentifully  about  with 
Toast,  Sugar,  Nutmeg,  and  good  Cheshire  Cheese ;  the  Rooms 
were  embower'd  with  Holly,  Ivy,  Cypress,  Bays,  Laurel,  and 
Misselto,  and  a  bouncing  Christmas  Log  in  the  Chimney 
glowing  like  the  cheeks  of  a  country  Milk-maid;  then  was 
the  pewter  as  bright  as  Clarinda,  and  every  bit  of  Brass  as 
polished  as  the  most  refined  Gentleman;  the  Servants  were 
then  running  here  and  there,  with  merry  Hearts  and  jolly 
Countenances ;  every  one  was  busy  welcoming  of  Guests, 
and  look'd  as  smug  as  new  licked  Puppies ;  the  Lasses  as 
blithe  and  buxom  as  the  maids  in  good  Queen  Bess's  Days, 
when  they  eat  Sir-Loins  of  Roast  Beef  for  Breakfast;  Peg 
would  scuttle  about  to  make  Toast  for  John,  while  Tom  run 


KEEPING   CHRISTMAS   IN  THE   OLD   WAY  17 

harum  scarum  to  draw  a  Jug  of  Ale  for  Margery :  Gaffer 
Spriggins  was  bid  thrice  welcome  by  the  'Squire,  and  Gooddy 
Goose  did  not  fail  of  a  smacking  Buss  from  his  Worship  while 
his  Son  and  Heir  did  the  Honours  of  the  House:  in  a  word, 
the  Spirit  of  Generosity  ran  thro'  the  whole  House. 

"In  these  Times  all  the  Spits  were  sparkling,  the  Mac  kin 
(a  great  sausage)  must  be  boiled  by  Day-break,  or  else  two 
young  Men  took  the  Maiden  (the  cook)  by  the  Arms,  and 
run  her  round  the  Market-place,  till  she  was  ashamed  of 
her  Laziness.  And  what  was  worse  than  this,  she  must  not 
play  with  the  Young  Fellows  that  Day,  but  stand  Neuter,  like 
a  Girl  doing  penance  in  a  Winding-sheet  at  a  Church-door. 

"  But  now  let  us  enquire  a  little  farther,  to  arrive  at  the 
Sense  of  the  Thing;  this  great  Festival  was  in  former 
Times  kept  with  so  much  Freedom  and  Openess  of  Heart, 
that  every  one  in  the  Country  where  a  Gentleman  resided, 
possessed  at  least  a  Day  of  Pleasure  in  the  Christmas 
Holydays ;  the  Tables  were  all  spread  from  the  first  to  the 
last,  the  Sir-loins  of  Beef,  the  Minc'd  Pies,  the  Plum-Por- 
ridge, the  Capons,  Turkeys,  Geese,  and  Plum-puddings,  were 
all  brought  upon  the  board ;  and  all  those  who  had  sharp 
stomachs  and  sharp  Knives  eat  heartily  and  were  welcome, 
which  gave  rise  to  the  Proverb  — 

Merry  in  the  Hall,  when  Beards  wag  all. 

"  A  merry  Gentleman  of  my  Acquaintance  desires  I  will 
insert,  that  the  old  Folks  in  the  Days  of  yore  kept  open 
House  at  Christmas  out  of  Interest;  for  then,  says  he,  they 


18  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

receive  the  greatest  part  of  their  rent  in  Kind ;  such  as 
Wheat,  Barley  or  Malt,  Oxen,  Calves,  Sheep,  Swine,  Tur- 
keys, Capon,  Geese,  and  such  like;  and  they  not  having 
Room  enough  to  preserve  their  Cattle  or  Poultry,  nor  Mar- 
kets to  sell  off  the  Overplus,  they  were  obliged  to  use  them 
in  their  own  Houses ;  and  by  treating  the  People  of  the  coun- 
try, gained  credit  amongst  them,  and  riveted  the  Minds  and 
Goodwill  of  their  Neighbours  so  firmly  in  them  that  no  one 
durst  venture  to  oppose  them.  The  'Squire's  Will  was  done 
whatever  came  on  it ;  for  if  he  happened  to  ask  a  Neighbour 
what  it  was  a  Clock,  they  returned  with  a  low  Scrape,  it  was 
what  your  Worship  pleases. 

"The  Dancing  and  Singing  of  the  Benchers  in  the  great 
Inns  of  the  Court  in  Christmas,  is  in  some  sort  founded 
upon  Interest;  for  they  hold,  as  I  am  informed,  some  Privi- 
ledge  by  Dancing  about  the  Fire  in  the  middle  of  their  Hall, 
and  singing  the  Song  of  Round  about  our  Coal  Fire,  &c. 

"  This  time  of  the  year  being  cold  and  frosty,  generally 
speaking,  or  when  Jack-Frost  commonly  takes  us  by  the 
Nose,  the  Diversions  are  within  Doors,  either  in  Exercise 
or  by  the  Fire-side. 

"  Country-Dancing  is  one  of  the  chief  Exercises.  .  .  . 

"  Then  comes  Mumming  or  Masquerading,  when  the 
'Squire's  Wardrobe  is  ransacked  for  Dresses  of  all  Kinds, 
and  the  coal-hole  searched  around,  or  corks  burnt  to  black 
the  Faces  of  the  Fair,  or  make  Deputy-Mustaches,  and  every 
one  in  the  Family  except  the  'Squire  himself  must  be  trans- 
formed from  what  they  were.  .  .  . 


KEEPING   CHRISTMAS   IN  THE  OLD   WAY  19 

"  Or  else  there  is  a  match  at  Blind- Mans- Buff,  and  then 
it  is  lawful  to  set  anything  in  the  way  for  Folks  to  tumble 
over.  .  .  . 

"  As  for  Puss  in  the  Corner,  that  is  a  very  harmless  Sport, 
and  one  may  romp  at  it  as  much  as  one  will.  .  .  . 

"  The  next  game  to  this  is  Questions  and  Commands,  when 
the  Commander  may  oblige  his  Subject  to  answer  any  law- 
ful Question,  and  make  the  same  obey  him  instantly,  under 
the  penalty  of  being  smutted,  or  paying  such  Forfeit  as  may 
be  laid  on  the  Aggressor;  but  the  Forfeits  being  generally 
fixed  at  some  certain  Price,  as  a  Shilling,  Half  a  Crown,  &c, 
so  every  one  knowing  what  to  do  if  they  should  be  too  stub- 
born to  submit,  making  themselves  easy  at  discretion. 

"  As  for  the  game  of  Hoop  and  Hide,  the  Parties  have  the 
Liberty  of  hiding  where  they  will,  in  any  part  of  the  House ; 
and  if  they  happen  to  be  caught  the  Dispute  ends  in  Kissing, 
&c. 

"  Most  of  the  Diversions  are  Cards  and  Dice,  but  they  are 
seldom  set  on  foot,  unless  a  Lawyer  is  at  hand,  to  breed  some 
dispute  for  him  to  decide,  or  at  least  to  have  some  Party  in. 

"And  now  I  come  to  another  Entertainment  frequently 
used,  which  is  of  the  Story-telling  Order,  viz.  of  Hobgoblins, 
Witches,  Conjurors,  Ghosts,  Fairies,  and  such  like  common 
Disturbers." 


20  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

As  Joseph  was  a-walking 

As  Joseph  was  a-walking, 
He  heard  an  angel  sing, 

"This  shall  be  the  birth-night 
Of  Christ  our  heavenly  king. 

11  His  birth-bed  shall  be  neither 
In  housen  nor  in  hall, 

Nor  in  the  place  of  paradise, 
But  in  the  oxen's  stall. 

"  He  neither  shall  be  rocked 
In  silver  nor  in  gold, 

But  in  the  wooden  manger 
That  lieth  in  the  mould. 

"  He  neither  shall  be  washen 
With  white  wine  nor  with  red, 

But  with  the  fair  spring  water 
That  on  you  shall  be  shed. 

"  He  neither  shall  be  clothed 
In  purple  nor  in  pall, 

But  in  the  fair  white  linen 
That  usen  babies  all." 

As  Joseph  was  a-walking, 
Thus  did  the  angels  sing, 

And  Mary's  son  at  midnight 
Was  born  to  be  our  King. 


THE   "JULE-NISSEN"   AND   BLOWING  IN  THE  YULE  21 

The  "  Jule-Nissen "   and   Blowing  in  the  Yule 

I  do  not  know  how  the  forty  years  I  have  been  away 
have  dealt  with  "  Jule-nissen,"  the  Christmas  elf  of  my  child- 
hood. He  was  pretty  old  then,  gray  and  bent,  and  there  were 
signs  that  his  time  was  nearly  over.  So  it  may  be  that 
they  have  laid  him  away.  I  shall  find  out  when  I  go  over 
there  next  time.  When  I  was  a  boy  we  never  sat  down 
to  our  Christmas  Eve  dinner  until  a  bowl  of  rice  and  milk 
had  been  taken  up  to  the  attic,  where  he  lived  with  the  mar- 
ten and  its  young  and  kept  an  eye  upon  the  house  —  saw 
that  everything  ran  smoothly.  I  never  met  him  myself,  but 
I  know  the  house-cat  must  have  done  so.  No  doubt  they 
were  well  acquainted;  for  when  in  the  morning  I  went  in 
for  the  bowl,  there  it  was,  quite  dry  and  licked  clean,  and  the 
cat  purring  in  the  corner.  So,  being  there  all  night,  he  must 
have  seen  and  likely  talked  with  him.  .  .  .  The  Nisse  wras  of 
the  family,  as  you  see,  very  much  of  it,  and  certainly  not 
to  be  classed  with  the  cattle.  Yet  they  were  his  special  concern  ; 
he  kept  them  quiet  and  saw  to  it,  when  the  stableman  for- 
got, that  they  were  properly  bedded  and  cleaned  and  fed.  He 
was  very  well  known  to  the  hands  about  the  farm,  and  they 
said  that  he  looked  just  like  a  little  old  man,  all  in  gray  and 
with  a  pointed  red  nightcap  and  long  gray  beard.  He  wras  always 
civilly  treated,  as  he  surely  deserved  to  be,  but  Christmas 
was  his  great  holiday,  when  he  became  part  of  it,  indeed,  and 
was  made  much  of.  So,  for  that  matter,  was  everything  that 
lived  under  the  husbandman's  roof,  or  within  reach  of  it. 


22  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Blowing  in  the  Yule  from  the  grim  old  tower  that  had 
stood  eight  hundred  years  against  the  blasts  of  the  North 
Sea  was  one  of  the  customs  of  the  Old  Town  that  abide, 
that  I  know.  At  sun-up,  while  yet  the  people  were  at  break- 
fast, the  town  band  climbed  the  many  steep  ladders  to  the 
top  of  the  tower,  and  up  there,  in  fair  weather  or  foul,  —  and 
sometimes  it  blew  great  guns  from  the  wintry  sea,  —  they 
played  four  old  hymns,  one  to  each  corner  of  the  compass, 
so  that  no  one  was  forgotten.  They  always  began  with 
Luther's  sturdy  challenge,  "  A  Mighty  Fortress  is  Our  God," 
while  down  below  we  listened  devoutly.  There  was  some- 
thing both  weird  and  beautiful  about  those  far-away  strains 
in  the  early  morning  light  of  the  northern  winter,  something 
that  was  not  of  earth  and  that  suggested  to  my  child's  im- 
agination the  angel's  song  on  far  Judean  hills.  Even  now, 
after  all  these  years,  the  memory  of  it  does  that. 


CHRISTMAS   EVE   IN  MERRY  ENGLAND  23 

Christmas    Eve  in    Merry    England 

On  Christmas  Eve  the  bells  were  rung; 

On  Christmas  Eve  the  mass  was   sung; 

That  only  night  in  all  the  year, 

Saw  the  stoled  priest  the  chalice  rear. 

The  damsel  donned  her  kirtle  sheen ; 

The  hall  was  dressed  with  holly  green ; 

Forth  to  the  wood  did  merry-men  go, 

To  gather  in  the  mistletoe. 

Then  open'd  wide  the  baron's  hall 

To  vassal,  tenant,  serf,  and  all; 

Power  laid  his  rod  of  rule  aside 

And  Ceremony  doff'd  his  pride. 

The  heir,  with  roses  in  his  shoes, 

That  night  might  village  partner  choose ; 

The  Lord,  underogating,  share 

The  vulgar  game  of  "  post  and  pair." 

All  hail'd,  with  uncontroll'd  delight, 

And  general  voice,  the  happy  night, 

That  to  the  cottage,  as  the  crown, 

Brought  tidings  of  salvation  down. 

The  fire,  with  well-dried  logs  supplied, 

Went  roaring  up  the  chimney  wide ; 

The  huge  hall  table's  oaken  face, 

Scrubb'd  till  it  shone,  the  day  to  grace, 

Bore  then  upon  its  massive  board 

No  mark  to  part  the  squire  and  lord; 


24  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Then  was  brought  in  the  lusty  brawn, 

By  old  blue-coated  serving  man ; 

Then  the  grim  boar's  head  frown'd  on  high, 

Crested  with  bays  and  rosemary. 

Well  can  the  green-garb'd  ranger  tell, 

How,  when,  and  where,  the  monster  fell ; 

What  dogs  before  his  death  he  tore, 

And  all  the  baiting  of  the  boar. 

The  wassel  round,  in  good  brown  bowls, 

Garnish'd  with  ribbons,  blithely  trowls; 

There  the  huge  sirloin  reek'd ;  hard  by 

Plum-porridge  stood,  and  Christmas  pie; 

Nor  fail'd  old  Scotland  to  produce, 

At  such  high  tide  her  savory  goose. 

Then  came  the  merry  maskers  in, 

And  carols  roar'd  with  blithesome  din; 

If  unmelodious  was  the  song, 

It  was  a  hearty  note,  and  strong. 

Who  lists  may  in  their  mumming  see 

Traces  of  ancient  mystery; 

White  shirts  supplied  the  masquerade, 

And  smutted  cheeks  the  visors  made; 

But,  O !  what  maskers,  richly  dight, 

Can  boast  of  bosoms  half  so  light! 

England  was  merry  England,  when 

Old  Christmas  brought  his  sports  again. 


WHEN   CHRISTMAS   WAS   NOT   MERRY  25 

When  Christmas  was  not  Merry 

Christmas  was  not  always"  Merry  Christmas"  in  old  Eng- 
land, for  at  one  time  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  do  away 
with  the  holiday  entirely,  after  some  of  the  older  ways 
of  celebrating  the  season  had  become  too  boisterous  for 
decent -God-fearing  folk.  "At  this  season,"  says  old  Dr. 
Stubbs,  "all  the  wild-heads  of  the  parish  flocking  together 
choose  them  a  grand  captain  of  Mischief,  whom  they  crown 
with  great  solemnity  and  the  title  of  Lord  of  Misrule,  who 
chooseth  as  many  as  he  will  to  guard  his  noble  person.  Then 
every  one  of  these  men  he  dresseth  in  liveries  of  green,  of 
yellow,  or  other  light  color;  and  as  though  they  were  not 
gaudy  enough,  they  bedeck  themselves  with  scarves,  ribbons, 
laces,  and  jewels.  This  done  they  tie  about  either  leg 
twenty  or  forty  bells,  with  rich  handkerchiefs  on  their  heads, 
and  sometimes  laid  across  their  shoulders  and  necks.  .  .  . 
Then  march  this  heathenish  company  to  the  church,  their 
pipes  piping,  their  drums  thundering,  their  bells  jingling, 
their  handkerchiefs  fluttering  about  their  heads  like  madmen, 
their  hobby  horses,  dragoons,  and  other  monsters  skirmishing 
among  the  throng.  And  in  this  sort  they  go  to  church 
though  minister  be  at  prayer  or  preaching,  —  dancing  and 
singing  with  such  a  confused  noise  that  no  man  can  hear 
his  own  voice."  "  My  Lord  of  Misrule's  badges  "  were  given 
to  those  who  contributed  money  to  pay  the  expense  of  this 
wild  fooling ;  those  who  refused  were  sometimes  ducked  in 
the  cow  pond,  he  adds.     It  is  admitted  that  these  abuses  were 


26  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

quite  as  bad  as  he  described,  and  that  they  were  among  the 
chief  reasons  why,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Cromwell  tried  to 
put  down  the  great  old  holiday.  His  Puritan  government  ordered 
that  the  shops  were  to  be  opened,  that  markets  were  to  be  held, 
that  all  the  work  of  the  world  should  go  on  as  if  there  had 
never  been  carols  sung  or  chimes  set  ringing  "  on  Christmas 
Day  in  the  morning."  Instead  of  merry  chimes,  people  heard 
a  crier's  harsh-sounding  bell  and  his  monotonous  voice 
telling  every  one  "  No  Christmas  !     No   Christmas  !  " 

In  Scotland  about  the  same  time  bakers  were  ordered  to 
stop  baking  Yule  cakes,  women  were  ordered  to  spin  in  open 
sight  on  Yule  day,  farm  laborers  were  told  to  yoke  their 
ploughs.  In  both  countries  the  masks,  or  Christmas  plays, 
which  had  been  so  popular  in  the  houses  of  rich  nobles,  were 
absolutely  forbidden  ;  and  if  one  were  given,  those  who  merely 
looked  on  might  be  fined  and  the  actors  whipped. 

But  the  people  would  not  have  their  holiday  taken  away. 
Shops  might  open,  but  few  would  come  to  buy.  In  Canterbury 
on  one  Christmas  Day  the  townspeople  asked  the  tradesmen  to 
close  their  shops.  The  tradesmen  feared  the  law's  penalties, 
so  refused.  In  the  riot  that  followed  the  mob  broke  the  shop 
windows,  scattered  the  goods,  and  roughly  handled  the  shop- 
keepers. 

In  London  even  Christmas  decorations  were  forbidden,  but 
when  the  Lord  Mayor  sent  a  man  to  take  down  some  holiday 
greens  from  one  of  the  houses,  the  saucy  London  'prentice-boys 
swarmed  out  with  sticks  and  stones  and  sent  him  flying.  Then 
came  on  horseback,  fat  and  lordly,  even  the  great  Lord  Mayor 


WHEN   CHRISTMAS   WAS   NOT  MERRY  27 

himself,  who  thought  his  dignity  would  overawe  the  unruly 
boys.  But  they  only  laughed  and  shouted  until  his  horse  took 
fright  and  ran  away  —  and  perhaps  he  was  glad  to  be  let  off  so 
easily.  Even  where  the  people  dared  not  openly  fight  the  new 
laws,  they  did  not  obey  them  more  than  they  could  help.  Spin- 
ning-wheels were  idle  because  there  was  no  flax,  and  ploughs 
were  "  gone  to  be  mended "  on  Christmas  Day  in  many  an 
English  village  until  after  the  death  of  Cromwell,  when  the 
holiday  came  to  its  own  again  in  "  merrie  England." 

The  same  dislike  for  the  festival  of  Christmas,  with  its 
drinking,  dancing,  and  stage  plays,  came  over  to  the  New  World 
with  the  Puritans.  Only  a  year  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth 
Governor  Bradford  called  his  men  out  to  work,  "  on  ye  day 
called  Christmas  Day,"  as  on  other  days.  But  certain  young 
men,  who  had  just  come  over  in  the  little  ship  Fortune,  held 
back  and  said  it  went  against  their  consciences  to  work  on  that 
day.  So  the  governor  told  them  that  he  would  spare  them  till 
they  were  better  informed.  But  when  he  and  the  rest  came 
home  at  noon  from  their  work,  he  found  them  in  the  street  at 
play  openly,  some  pitching  the  bar  and  some  at  ball  and  such 
like  sports.  So  he  went  to  them  and  took  away  their  imple- 
ments and  told  them  it  was  against  his  conscience  that  they 
should  play  and  others  work.  If  they  made  the  keeping  of  it 
matter  of  devotion,  he  said,  let  them  keep  their  houses,  but 
there  should  be  no  gaming  or  revelling  in  the  street.  Later,  in 
1659,  a  law  was  ma-de  that  anybody  found  to  be  keeping  "by 
feasting,  or  not  working,  or  in  any  other  way,  any  such  day  as 
Christmas  Day,  shall  pay  for  every  offense  five  shillings." 


28  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Going  Home  for  Christmas. 

In  the  course  of  a  December  tour  in  Yorkshire,  I  rode  for  a 
long  distance  in  one  of  the  public  coaches,  on  the  day  preceding 
Christmas.  The  coach  was  crowded,  both  inside  and  out,  with 
passengers,  who,  by  their  talk,  seemed  principally  bound  to  the 
mansions  of  relations  or  friends  to  eat  the  Christmas  dinner. 
It  was  loaded  also  with  hampers  of  game,  and  baskets  and 
boxes  of  delicacies ;  and  hares  hung  dangling  their  long  ears 
about  the  coachman's  box  —  presents  from  distant  friends  for 
the  impending  feast.  I  had  three  fine  rosy-cheeked  schoolboys 
for  my  fellow-passengers  inside,  full  of  the  buxom  health  and 
manly  spirit  which  I  have  observed  in  the  children  of  this  coun- 
try. They  were  returning  home  for  the  holidays  in  high  glee, 
and  promising  themselves  a  world  of  enjoyment.  It  was  de- 
lightful to  hear  the  gigantic  plans  of  pleasure  of  the  little  rogues, 
and  the  impracticable  feats  they  were  to  perform  during  their 
six  weeks'  emancipation  from  the  abhorred  thraldom  of  book, 
birch,  and  pedagogue.  They  were  full  of  anticipations  of  the 
meeting  with  the  family  and  household,  down  to  the  very  cat 
and  dog;  and  of  the  joy  they  were  to  give  their  little  sisters  by 
the  presents  with  which  their  pockets  were  crammed ;  but  the 
meeting  to  which  they  seemed  to  look  forward  with  the  greatest 
impatience  was  with  Bantam,  which  I  found  to  be  a  pony,  and, 
according  to  their  talk,  possessed  of  more  virtues  than  any  steed 
since  the  days  of  Bucephalus.  How  he  could  trot !  how  he 
could  run  !  and  then  such  leaps  as  he  would  take  — there  was 
not  a  hedge  in  the  whole  country  that  he  could  not  clear. 


GOING  HOME   FOR   CHRISTMAS  29 

They  were  under  the  particular  guardianship  of  the  coach- 
man, to  whom,  whenever  an  opportunity  presented,  they  ad- 
dressed a  host  of  questions,  and  pronounced  him  one  of  the 
best  fellows  in  the  whole  world.  Indeed,  I  could  not  but 
notice  the  more  than  ordinary  air  of  bustle  and  importance  of 
the  coachman,  who  wore  his  hat  a  little  on  one  side,  and  had  a 
large  bunch  of  Christmas  greens  stuck  in  the  buttonhole  of  his 
coat.  He  is  always  a  personage  full  of  mighty  care  and  busi- 
ness, but  he  is  particularly  so  during  this  season,  having  so 
many  commissions  to  execute  in  consequence  of  the  great  in- 
terchange of  presents.  .  .  . 

Perhaps  the  impending  holiday  might  have  given  a  more 
than  usual  animation  to  the  country,  for  it  seemed  to  me  as 
if  everybody  was  in  good  looks  and  good  spirits.  Game, 
poultry,  and  other  luxuries  of  the  table  were  in  brisk  circula- 
tion in  the  villages ;  the  grocers',  butchers',  and  fruiterers' 
shops  were  thronged  with  customers.  The  housewives  were 
stirring  briskly  about,  putting  their  dwellings  in  order ;  and  the 
glossy  branches  of  holly,  with  their  bright  red  berries,  began  to 
appear  at  the  windows.  The  scene  brought  to  mind  an  old 
writer's  account  of  Christmas  preparations :  "  Now  capons 
and  hens,  besides  turkeys,  geese,  and  ducks,  with  beef  and 
mutton  —  must  all  die ;  for  in  twelve  days  a  multitude  of 
people  will  not  be  fed  with  a  little.  Now  plums  and  spice, 
sugar  and  honey,  square  it  among  pies  and  broth.  Now  or 
never  must  music  be  in  tune,  for  the  youth  must  dance  and 
sing  to  get  them  a  heat,  while  the  aged  sit  by  the  fire.  The 
country  maid  leaves  half  her  market,  and  must  be  sent  again, 


30  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

if  she  forgets  a  pack  of  cards  on  Christmas  Eve.  Great  is 
the  contention  of  Holly  and  Ivy,  whether  master  or  dame 
wears  the  breeches.  Dice  and  cards  benefit  the  butler;  and  if 
the  cook  do  not  lack  wit,  he  will  sweetly  lick  his  fingers." 

I  was  roused  from  this  fit  of  luxurious  meditation  by  a 
shout  from  my  little  travelling  companions.  They  had  been 
looking  out  of  the  coach  windows  for  the  last  few  miles, 
recognizing  every  tree  and  cottage  as  they  approached  home, 
and  now  there  was  a  general  burst  of  joy  —  "There's  John! 
and  there's  old  Carlo !  and  there's  Bantam !  "  cried  the  happy 
little  rogues,  clapping  their  hands. 

At  the  end  of  a  lane  there  was  an  old  sober-looking  servant 
in  livery  waiting  for  them  ;  he  was  accompanied  by  a  superan- 
nuated pointer,  and  by  the  redoubtable  Bantam,  a  little  old  rat 
of  a  pony,  with  a  shaggy  mane  and  long  rusty  tail,  who  stood 
dozing  quietly  by  the  roadside,  little  dreaming  of  the  bustling 
times  that  awaited  him. 

I  was  pleased  to  see  the  fondness  with  which  the  little 
fellows  leaped  about  the  steady  old  footman,  and  hugged  the 
pointer,  who  wriggled  his  whole  body  for  joy.  But  Bantam 
was  the  great  object  of  interest ;  all  wanted  to  mount  at  once ; 
and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that  John  arranged  that  they 
should  ride  by  turns,  and  the  eldest  should  ride  first. 

Off  they  set  at  last ;  one  on  the  pony,  with  the  dog  bound- 
ing and  barking  before  him,  and  the  others  holding  John's 
hands ;  both  talking  at  once,  and  overpowering  him  by  ques- 
tions about  home,  and  with  school  anecdotes.  I  looked  after 
them  with  a  feeling  in  which  I  do  not  know  whether  pleasure 


GOD   REST  YOU   MERRY,   GENTLEMEN  31 

or  melancholy  predominated ;  for  I  was  reminded  of  those 
days  when,  like  them,  I  had  neither  known  care  nor  sorrow, 
and  a  holiday  was  the  summit  of  earthly  felicity.  We  stopped 
a  few  moments  afterwards  to  water  the  horses,  and  on  resum- 
ing our  route,  a  turn  of  the  road  brought  us  in  sight  of  a  neat 
country-seat.  I  could  just  distinguish  the  forms  of  a  lady  and 
two  young  girls  in  the  portico,  and  I  saw  my  little  comrades, 
with  Bantam,  Carlo,  and  old  John,  trooping  along  the  carriage 
road.  I  leaned  out  of  the  coach  window,  in  hopes  of  witnessing 
the  happy  meeting,  but  a  grove  of  trees  shut  it  from  my  sight. 

God   Rest  You   Merry,  Gentlemen 

God  rest  you  merry,  gentlemen, 

Let  nothing  you  dismay, 
For  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour, 

Was  born  upon  this  day; 
To  save  us  all  from  Satan's  power, 
When  we  were  gone  astray. 
O  tidings  of  comfort  and  joy, 
For  fesus  Christ  our  Saviour 
Was  born  on  Christmas  Day. 

In  Bethlehem  in  Jewry 

This  blessed  babe  was  born, 
And  laid  within  a  manger 

Upon  this  blessed  morn ; 
The  which  His  mother  Mary 

Nothing  did  take  in  scorn. 


32  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

From  God,  our  Heavenly  Father, 
A  blessed  Angel  came, 

And,  unto  certain  shepherds, 
Brought  tidings  of  the  same; 

How,  that  in  Bethlehem  was  born 
The  Son  of  God  by  name. 

The  Shepherds  'at  those  tidings, 
Rejoiced  much  in  mind, 

And  left  their  flocks  a-feeding 
In  tempest,  storm,  and  wind, 

And  went  to  Bethlehem  straightway, 
This  blessed  Babe  to  find. 

But  when  to  Bethlehem  they  came, 
Where  as  this  Infant  lay, 

They  found  him  in  a  manger 
Where  oxen  feed  on  hay, 

His  mother  Mary  kneeling 
Unto  the  Lord  did  pray. 

Now  to  the  Lord  sing  praises 

All  you  within  this  place, 
And  with  true  love  and  brotherhood 

Each  other  now  embrace, 
This  holy  tide  of  Christmas 
All  others  doth  deface. 

0  tidings  of  comfort  and  joy, 
For  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour 
IVas  born  on  Christmas  Day. 


THE  DATE   OF   RUSSIA'S   CHRISTMASTIDE  33 

The   Date  of  Russia's  Christmastide 

Real  winter  in  Russia  is  supposed  to  start  on  the 
feast  of  St.  Nicholas  of  which  the  date,  written  in  Russian 
style,  is  December  6/19.  The  first  figure  gives  the  date 
of  the  month  as  it  is  known  in  Russia  and  Greece,  the 
second  the  date  according  to  the  calendar  in  use  in  all 
other  civilized  countries. 

The  calendar  which  was  brought  into  use  by  Julius 
Caesar,  and  was  carried  all  over  the  then  known  world 
by  the  Romans,  aimed  to  measure  the  year  by  the  time 
it  takes  the  earth  to  move  once  around  the  sun.  His 
Egyptian  astronomer  figured  that  this  required  365^  days, 
so  the  practice  was  begun  of  having  three  years  of  365 
days,  followed  by  a  leap  year,  to  which  an  extra  day 
is  given.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  length  of  the  average 
year  is  not  exactly  365^  days.  To  be  sure,  that  is  only 
11-^  seconds  or  so  out  of  the  way,  and  this  may  seem  a 
very  small  matter  out  of  a  whole  year ;  but  what  happens 
is  that  every  128  years  or  so  the  calendar  of  Julius  Caesar 
or  the  Julian  Calendar,  as  it  is  called,  gets  a  day  behind. 
By  the  year  1582,  when  Gregory  XIII  was  Pope,  the  calen- 
dar was  ten  days  slow.  So  Pope  Gregory  issued  an  order 
that  the  year  was  to  take  a  new  start  and  that  thereafter 
three  leap  years  out  of  every  four  centuries  should  be 
omitted,  which  keeps  the  calendar  very  nearly  correct. 
But  though  Pope  Gregory  might  decree,  it  did  not  follow 
that    every  one  would  obey  at   once;    the   ignorant   thought 


34  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK   OF   CHRISTMAS 

that  by  the  change  of  date  they  were  losing  ten  days  of 
time  and,  of  course,  of  wages.  After  some  confusion  all 
the  Roman  Catholic  countries  obeyed.  England,  being 
a  Protestant  country,  ignored  Pope  Gregory's  commands. 
But  it  could  not  so  easily  dismiss  the  knowledge  of  its 
own  astronomers  that  the  Gregorian  Calendar,  as  it  is  called, 
is  nearer  the  truth  than  the  Julian.  In  1752,  therefore, 
the  date  of  the  day  of  the  year  was  changed  by  an 
Act  of  Parliament.  The  day  after  September  3  was  to 
be  called  September  14,  which  it  would  have  been  if  the 
calendar  had  not  been  slow.  And  naturally  the  change 
was  also  made  in  America,  to  which  the  new  style  had  been 
brought  already  by  French  and  Spanish  settlers  from 
Catholic  countries. 

There  were  always  hot  jealousies  between  the  Eastern 
Church,  ruled  from  Constantinople,  and  the  Western,  ruled 
from  Rome.  The  Eastern  or  Greek  churches  refused 
to  change  their  calendar  on  the  order  of  a  Latin  Pope, 
and  to  this  day  retain  the  old  style,  the  Julian  dates.  This 
is  why  their  Christmas  follows  our  Twelfth  Day,  for  by 
this  time  their  calendar  is  thirteen  days  behind  the  Gre- 
gorian. But  to  avoid  confusion  the  double  date  is  very 
generally  in  use. 

During  the  time  between  the  Day  of  St.  Nicholas  and 
Christmas  it  seems  as  if  half  Russia  streams  out  upon 
the  ice  of  the  river  Neva  in  St.  Petersburg.  All  through 
the  summer  the  boats  come  and  go,  bringing  food,  fuel, 
building     materials,    everything    the     city    needs,    from     the 


THE   DATE  OF  RUSSIA'S   CHRISTMASTIDE  35 

interior;  but  the  river  is  frozen  for  six  months  of  the  year, 
and  in  those  months  it  is  used  as  if  it  were  public  land. 
St.  Petersburg  is  a  very  gay  capital  in  winter,  when  the 
wealthier  Russian  nobles  have  left  their  country  estates, 
and  come  down  to  exchange  visits,  to  give  balls,  or  go 
dashing  about  in  gay  sleighs  to  join  the  sleighing  or  skating 
contests  for  which  a  part  of  the  frozen  river  is  reserved. 
All  around  the  cleared  spaces  on  the  ice,  merchants  have 
set  up  temporary  booths ;  here  you  may  buy  tea  and  nut- 
cakes  ;  there  holy  pictures,  or  ikons,  pictures  of  all  the  pos- 
sible saints,  some  costing  a  few  pennies,  others  with  gold 
and  silver  backgrounds  costing  many  roubles,  a  rouble 
being  worth  about  fifty  cents.  On  another  part  of  the 
river  a  great  provision  market  is  held  a  little  before  Christ- 
mas, and  the  booths  stretch  for  miles.  Everything  is 
frozen.  Countless  oxen,  piles  of  sheep  and  goats,  pyramids 
of  pigs,  form  a  frozen  range  of  hillocks  to  which  the  butcher 
comes  to  make  his  choice.  With  hatchet  or  saw  he  divides 
the  animal,  ox,  or  pig,  or  it  may  be  a  bear,  into  sections 
which  his  customers  store  in  the  ice-cellars  which  have  all 
been  freshly  filled.  Thousands  of  workmen  are  engaged 
during  the  winter  in  cutting  and  drawing  the  ice  from 
yet  another  part  of  the  Neva,  and  on  a  still  frosty  morning 
the  clink  of  their  axes  against  iron  ice-breakers  can  be 
heard  at  a  long  distance  from  the  river. 

A  great  ceremony  of  the  Greek  Church  takes  place  each 
year  at  the  end  of  their  Christmas  season  —  the  Benediction 
of  the  Waters  —  in    every  town   and  village  in   Russia  and 


36  THE  CHILDREN'S  BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

down  along  the  coasts  of  Greece.  In  St.  Petersburg  the 
ceremony  is  performed  by  the  Czar  outside  the  Winter 
Palace.  A  wooden  temple  is  put  up  out  on  the  ice,  deco- 
rated with  gilt  and  paintings  within,  and  surrounded  by  a 
hedge  of  fir  boughs  without.  A  hole  is  made  in  the  ice, 
and  to  this  a  long  procession  makes  its  way;  troops  with 
bright  banners,  gorgeously  robed  bishops,  and  priests  car- 
rying lighted  tapers  and  big  ikons,  are  followed  by  more 
soldiers,  the  Czar  and  Czarina  in  magnificently  jewelled 
robes,  and  after  them  their  Court  brilliant  in  uniforms 
and  beautiful  fur-trimmed  dresses.  They  have  all  attended 
one  service  in  the  Imperial  Chapel;  they  now  have  another 
on  the  ice.  The  water  is  blessed,  evil  spirits  flee  away, 
the  soldiers  fire  a  salute,  and  every  one  is  sprinkled  with 
the  now  holy  water.  The  procession  returns  to  the  city, 
carrying  with  it  great  vessels  of  the  holy  water  to  be  used 
later  in  all  the  churches.  Then  the  people  who  have  been 
looking  on  try  to  get  to  the  hole ;  some  draw  up  pailfuls 
of  the  cold  liquid;  others  plunge  bodily  into  the  icy  water, 
believing  that  so  they  will  be  cleansed  from  sin  or  sickness; 
many  have  even  plunged  delicate  babies  into  it,  content, 
if  the  child  does  not  survive  the  shock,  in  the  belief  that 
its  soul  is  forever  saved.  And  over  every  door  in  the  great 
city  on  that  day  rests  the  sign  of  the  cross,  lest  the  evil 
spirit  expelled  from  the  water  should  enter  any  home. 


ST.   BARBARA'S   GRAIN  37 

St.   Barbara's  Grain 

Only  in  the  south  of  France,  they  say,  is  to  be  found  the 
custom  of  planting  St.  Barbara's  grain  on  the  fourth  of  De- 
cember. Earthenware  dishes  an  inch  or  two  in  depth  are  half 
filled  with  water,  on  the  surface  of  which  wheat  is  scattered,  or 
the  small,  flattened  seeds  of  the  lentil,  a  leafy-stemmed  plant 
whose  honey-laden  blossoms  will,  later  in  the  year,  draw 
swarms  of  golden  bees  to  the  fields  where  it  is  planted.  The 
dish  is  then  set  in  the  warm  ashes  of  the  fireplace,  or  on  the 
deep  stone  sill  of  a  sunny  window,  and  the  grain  is  left  to 
sprout  and  grow  so  that  on  the  table  of  the  Christmas  Eve 
supper  there  may  be  this  tender  promise  of  the  harvest  of  the 
year  to  come  —  a  pale,  delicate  young  greenness  in  strong 
contrast  with  the  darker  evergreens.  The  bent  old  gran  mere 
by  the  hearth  will  tell  you,  that  as  the  growth  is  thick  and 
sturdy  or  scattered  and  thin,  so  will  be  the  later  harvests  of 
grain,  or  honey. 

The  yellow  daffodil,  or  narcissus,  is  a  plant  which  first  grew 
in  southern  France,  and  along  the  Mediterranean,  and  it  may 
be  that  it  was  some  early  settler  from  Languedoc  or  Provence, 
who  introduced  into  Louisiana  a  custom  common  half  a 
century  ago,  that  had  a  dim  resemblance  to  this  planting  of 
St.  Barbara's  grain.  The  daffodil  bulbs  were  planted  in  shal- 
low earthenware  dishes  on  the  eve  of  All  Saints,  and  set  for 
three  weeks  in  the  warm  dark,  and  later  in  the  sun.  The  older 
Creoles  foretold  a  fruitful  year  if  the  flower  bud  were  well 
formed  by  St.  Barbara's  day. 


38  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK   OF   CHRISTMAS 

Before  the  Paling  of  the  Stars 

Before  the  paling  of  the  stars, 

Before  the  winter  morn, 
Before  the  earliest  cockcrow, 

Jesus  Christ  was  born: 
Born  in  a  stable, 

Cradled  in  a  manger, 
In  the  world  His  hands  had  made 

Born  a  stranger. 

Priest  and  King  lay  fast  asleep 

In  Jerusalem, 
Young  and  old  lay  fast  asleep 

In  crowded  Bethlehem : 
Saint  and  Angel,  ox  and  ass, 

Kept  a  watch  together 
Before  the  Christmas  daybreak 

In  the  winter  weather. 

Jesus  on  His  Mother's  breast 

In  the  stable  cold, 
Spotless  Lamb  of  God  was  He, 

Shepherd  of  the  fold: 
Let  us  kneel  with   Mary  Maid, 

With  Joseph  bent  and  hoary, 
With  Saint  and  Angel,   ox  and  ass, 

To  hail   the  King  of  Glory. 


A   MIDNIGHT   MASS  39 

A  Midnight  Mass  in  France 

The  great  time  for  making  gifts  in  France  is  the  Jour  de 
VAn,  the  day  of  the  year,  our  New  Year's  Day,  when  there 
is  a  great  exchange  of  cards,  good  wishes,  visits,  and 
presents.  On  Christmas  Eve,  everything  else  used  to  pale 
before  the  exciting  adventure  of  going  to  the  church  at  mid- 
night. After  church  came  the  Grand  Supper,  a  family  gath- 
ering from  which  the  children  were  sent  to  bed  long  before 
they  were  ready  to  go,  comforting  themselves  as  they 
climbed  the  stair  by  asking  each  other,  "  What  do  you  think 
P'tit  Noel  will  put  in  your  shoe  ?  "  But  they  were  always 
too  sleepy  to  lie  awake  long  enough  to  see  whose  hand  it 
was  that  dropped  into  each  little  shoe  under  the  mantelpiece 
a  few  goodies  or  bits  of  silver  coin.  Sometimes  one  was 
guiltily  afraid  that  a  black  record  of  naughtiness  deserved 
the  disgracing  gift  of  a  few  pebbles,  but  then,  —  surely  Petit 
Jesus  was  forgiving  and  next  year  one  would  be  very  good, 
yes,  of  a  certainty,  most  good. 

Earlier  in  the  evening  the  children  had  been  allowed  to 
play  any  game  they  liked,  however  noisy,  quite  up  to  eleven 
o'clock,  which  was  unusual  enough  by  itself.  Then  began  a 
great  bundling  up  in  furs  and  mufflers  before  the  plunge 
from  the  warm  candle-lighted  room  into  the  frosty  night, 
where  stars  shone  like  gold  nails  driven  into  blue-black  velvet ; 
the  frost  crunched  under  wooden  shoes ;  the  lanterns  threw 
strange,  wavering  shadows ;  a  dry  branch  fell  with  a  sudden 
crackle;  far   away  a  horse    whickered    and    stamped   just    as 


40  THE    CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

one  was  coming  toward  the  deepest  blackness  of  all,  where 
the  great  gray  church  and  the  tall  buildings  about  it  threw 
the  Grande  Place  into  densest  shadow.  Nothing  in  that  sound 
should  frighten  one,  but  every  child  had  heard  the  peasants 
tell  of  this  enchanted  hour  when  animals  in  their  stables 
could  talk  like  men ;  still,  nothing  could  harm  a  child  on 
the  way  to  mass,  of  course,  so  one  plucked  up  courage  and 
sang  out  extra  loudly  in  the  refrain  of  whatever  carol  was 
being  rung  on  the  chimes  in  the  ivy-covered  tower. 

The  old  church  had  always  seemed  large,  very  large  for 
the  few  who  worshipped  in  it,  but  now  it  was  majestic, 
reaching  up  toward  the  skies  as  if  to  gather  from  the 
angelic  choir  the  great  waves  of  music  that  rolled  down  the 
valley  to  be  heard  miles  away.  And  how  could  one  help 
gasping  when  a  gust  of  wind  swept  him  suddenly  into  the 
porch ;  there  through  the  open  door  he  was  caught  and 
drawn  forward,  adoring,  by  the  full  splendor  of  the  altar, 
studded  with  lights,  dazzling  against  dark  walls,  green  with 
pine  and  laurel. 

At  one  side  was  the  creche,  the  miniature  stable  scene, 
where  the  mother  ever  watched  in  wondering  love  the  Holy 
Child.  Down  the  long  nave,  from  the  damp  stone  floor 
which  had  never  known  the  luxury  of  matting,  great  pillars 
lost  themselves  in  the  blackness  of  the  arches.  But  each 
who  entered  brought  his  lantern  and  set  it  on  the  stones  in 
front  of  him ;  one  after  another  the  little  lights  like  stars 
came  twinkling  out  all  over  the  church.  And  each  new- 
comer   joined    in    the    carols    sung    before    the    mass    was 


A   MIDNIGHT   MASS  41 

begun  —  old,  old  carols  with  beloved  refrains  which  one 
heard  only  at  Christmas  time. 

The  old  mysteries,  quaint  plays  in  which  long  ago  the 
peasants  of  Southern  France  acted  the  simple  stories  of  the 
adoration  of  the  Babe  by  the  angels,  the  shepherds,  and  the 
Wise  Men,  are  seen  no  more,  but  it  is  said  that  until  very 
recently,  in  some  of  the  provinces,  at  a  certain  pause  in  the 
mass,  a  shepherd  knocks  loudly  on  the  great  church  door, 
the  hollow  sound  echoing  in  the  solemn  hush.  From  with- 
out is  heard  singing,  the  voices  of  shepherds  asking  to  come 
in.  Slowly  the  doors  swing  back,  the  people  part  and  the 
shepherds  enter,  passing  up  the  nave  between  a  double  row 
of  worshippers.  In  front  are  two  or  three  boys  playing 
softly  on  simple  musical  instruments,  one  has  a  flute,  an- 
other a  tambourine.  Then  begins  a  quaint  musical  dialogue 
between  these  peasants  in  their  long,  weather-stained  cloaks, 
and  those  who  stand  on  either  side. 

From  one  hand  comes  the  question,  in  high  treble, 

Where  hast  thou  been  ? 
And  it  is  echoed  from  the  other, 

What  hast  thou  seen  f 
And  the  deep  musical  voices  of  the  shepherds  answer:  — 
"Deep  in  a  manger,  a  little  child, 
On  the  dry  straw,  slumbered  and  smiled!' 

So  they  move  slowly,  carrying  a  little  fruit,  a  measure  of 
grain,  a  pair  of  pigeons,  to  where  the  priest  stands  waiting  to 
bless  their  simple  gifts  and  lay  them  at  the  foot  of  the  altar. 


42  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

The  Christchild  and  the  Pine  Tree 

On  the  Holy  Night  when  the  Christchild  was  born,  the 
earth  lay  very  near  to  heaven;  ^11  the  world  was  at  peace, 
and  there  was  no  noise  of  war  to  keep  men  on  earth  from 
hearing  the  angels  sing. 

Animals  and  birds  and  trees  alike  were  glad  because  of 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Babe,  and  like  the  shepherds  and 
the  Wise  Men  came  to  bring  to  Him  their  gifts.  Most  of 
all  the  little  pine  tree  beside  the  road  longed  to  take  some- 
thing to  the  Christchild. 

The  cedars,  instead  of  pointing  their  branches  upward  in 
pointed  slender  trees,  spread  their  branches  wide,  as  Cedars 
of  Lebanon  do  to  this  day,  and  bent  low  to  shelter  the 
Mother  and  Child.  But  the  little  pine  was  too  small  to 
shelter  anything,  and  though  he  stretched  and  stretched,  he 
was  not  even  tall  enough  to  keep  the  sun  out  of  the  eyes 
of  the  Wonderful  Babe.  He  was  barely  tall  enough  for  the 
wind  to  make  a  whispering  sound  in  the  tips  of  his  little 
branches. 

The  thorn,  although  it  was  midwinter,  suddenly  blos- 
somed out  and  brought  its  white  flowers  to  make  a  coverlet 
for  the  Child's  cradle.  And  the  little  pine  tree  tried  so  hard 
to  blossom  that  pine-needles  came  out  in  tufts  all  over  him, 
but  that  was  all;  only  the  wind  through  his  branches  now 
sounded  like  a  sigh. 

The  "  bird  of  God,"  which  we  call  the  wren,  flew  quickly 
and    brought    soft    moss    and    feathers    to    make    His    cradle 


THE   CHRISTCHILD   AND   THE   PINE   TREE  43 

warm.  "  I  will  pull  off  all  my  needles  to  make  a  bed  for 
Him,"  the  pine  tree  said.  But  when  he  began  to  do  that, 
Mother  Mary  smiled  and  shook  her  head.  "Your  needles 
would  only  prick  Him,  little  pine,"  she  said.  And  the  little 
pine  rocked  in  pain  and  the  wind  sighed  through  his  branches. 

The  olive  came  and  brought  sweet-smelling  oil,  with  which 
to  rub  the  Christchild's  little  limbs;  and  the  pine  tree  saw  her 
and  ached  so  for  something  to  give  that  the  resin  stood  out 
in  big  drops  along  his  stem.  "Oh!"  he  cried  joyfully,  "I, 
too,  have  oil  to  give."  And  Mother  Mary's  smile  was  very 
tender  as  she  shook  her  head  again  and  said  gently,  "  But 
your  drops  are  sticky,  and  they  would  hurt  His  tender  skin, 
dear  little  pine."  So  the  little  pine  was  very  unhappy  because 
it  had  nothing  to  offer  the  Christchild.  And  year  by  year 
as  he  grew  taller,  and  remembered  the  Holy  Night,  the  wind 
swept  through  his  branches  with  a  sound  that  was  almost  a 
moan;  and  ever  since  you  can  hear  that  sound  from  pine 
trees  all  the  world  over. 

Now  for  hundreds  of  years  after,  on  each  Christmas  Eve, 
the  Christchild  comes  again,  in  the  likeness  of  a  poor  child, 
gathering  fallen  sticks  in  the  forest.  Up  and  down  the  hills 
He  goes,  shivering  in  the  icy  cold,  knocking  at  every  door, 
whether  it  is  of  a  cabin  or  a  castle,  until  He  finds  some  one 
who,  remembering  His  lesson  of  love,  calls  Him  in  to  find 
warmth  and  shelter;  and  such  a  home  He  blesses.  Some 
there  are  who,  like  the  pine  tree,  long  to  serve  Him,  and  these 
place  a  candle  in  the  window,  that  if  He  pass  along  their 
way,  He  may  see  it  and  come  in. 


44  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

But  one  night  there  was  no  door  open  and  as  He  walked 
wearily  through  the  pine  wood  the  wind  shrieked  through  the 
trees  bending  before  Him.  Then  the  Christchild  turned  aside 
and  crept  under  the  low  branches  of  a  pine  tree,  which  was 
large  enough  now  to  shelter  Him;  and  the  moss  lifted  itself 
from  the  snow  to  make  a  soft  bed  for  the  tired  Child.  And 
the  pine  tree,  drawing  its  branches  close  above  Him,  was  so 
happy  that  tears  of  joy  ran  down  his  branches  and  freezing, 
hung  in  slender  icicles.  And  as  the  first  red  rays  of  the  sun 
on  Christmas  morning  shone  upon  them  they  glittered  like 
the  candles  on  your  Christmas  tree,  and  the  Christchild 
opened  His  eyes  and  smiled. 

A   Birthday  Gift 

What  can  I  give  Him, 
Poor  as  I  am  ? 
If  I  were  a  shepherd 
I  would  bring  a  lamb, 
If  I  were  a  Wise  Man 
I  would  do  my  part, 
Yet  what  I  can  give  Him, — 
Give  my  heart. 


THE   CHRISTMAS   FIRE   IN   SERVIA  45 

The  Christmas   Fire  in   Servia 

Servia  is  one  of  the  countries  in  which  the  old,  old  cus- 
toms have  lasted  longest.  They  began  in  the  times  when  men 
looked  forward  longingly  to  "  the  days  in  which  the  sun,  hav- 
ing gone  far  enough  into  the  snowy  plains  of  the  winter,  turns 
back  toward  the  -green  fields  of  summer."  The  celebration 
begins  on  the  day  before  Christmas,  which  the  older  Servian 
songs  call  "  the  day  of  the  old  Badnyak."  No  one  seems  to 
know  who  Badnyak  was ;  but  some  have  believed  that  the 
fast-day  was  first  kept  in  honor  of  the  old  sun-god,  who  was 
thought  of  as  grown  weak  and  faint,  and  as  giving  place  to 
a  younger.  For  on  the  next  day  was  the  feast  of  "  the  little 
God,"  the  new  sun  who  was  to  bring  summer  back  again. 
Nowadays,  the  name  is  given  to  logs  cut  for  the  Christmas  fire. 

Every  Servian  boy  is  up  before  daylight  on  the  day  before 
Christmas,  for  he,  of  course,  must  be  on  hand  when  the 
strongest  young  men  of  the  family  start  out  with  a  cart  and 
a  pair  of  oxen  to  cut  a  young  oak  tree  and  bring  it  home. 
Upon  the  chosen  tree  they  throw  a  handful  of  wheat  with  the 
greeting,  "  Happy  Badnyi  Day  to  you  ! "  Then  they  begin  to 
cut  it  very  carefully,  timing  the  strokes  of  the  axes  and  plac- 
ing them  so  that  the  tree  shall  fall  directly  toward  the  rising 
sun,  and  at  the  exact  moment  when  its  red  ball  begins  to 
show  at  the  edge  of  the  world.  If  by  any  mischance,  or  a 
stroke  of  the  axe  in  the  wrong  place,  the  tree  falls  toward  the 
west,  there  will  be  great  distress,  for  this  is  thought  to  mean 
that  very  bad    luck   will    follow   the   family    through    all    the 


46  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

coming  year.  If  the  tree  should  fall  in  the  right  direction  but 
catch  in  the  branches  of  another,  the  good  fortune  of  the 
family  will  only  be  delayed  for  a  while.  The  small  boy's 
part  is  to  watch  very  closely  where  the  first  chip  falls,  for  it 
is  most  important  to  carry  home  that  first  oak  chip.  The 
trunk  of  the  tree  is  trimmed  and  cut  into  two  or  three  logs, 
of  which  one  is  a  foot  or  more  longer  than  the  others.  They 
are  then  dragged  to  the  house,  but  are  not  taken  inside  until 
sunset ;  in  the  meantime  they  stand  in  the  courtyard  on  either 
side  the  door.  The  house  mother  leaves  her  work  as  they  are 
brought  home  to  break  a  flat  cake  of  purest  wheat  flour  upon 
the  longest  log,  while  the  little  girls  sing  special  songs.  But 
soon  she  goes  back  to  her  work,  for  there  is  a  deal  to  be  done 
before  sunset ;  the  women  are  making  Christmas  cakes  in  the 
shape  of  lambs  and  chickens,  and  most  often  of  little  pigs 
with  blunt-pointed  noses  and  curly  tails.  For  the  pig  belongs 
to  a  Servian  Christmas  as  much  as  turkey  does  to  an  American 
Thanksgiving.  Long  ago  the  pagan  Servians  used  to  sacrifice 
a  pig  to  the  sun-god  on  the  day  of  the  old  Badnyak;  and  to 
this  day  you  will  not  find  one  Servian  house  in  which  "roast 
pig"  is  not  the  chief  dish  of  the  Christmas  dinner.  While  the 
women  bake,  the  men  prepare  the  pig  for  the  next  day's  roast- 
ing. The  boy  who  so  carefully  brought  home  that  first  oak 
chip  put  it  at  once  into  a  wooden  bowl,  and  his  little  sister  and 
he  cover  the  chip,  and  fill  the  bowl  with  wheat. 

Just  at  sunset  the  whole  family  gathers  in  the  big  kitchen. 
The  mother  of  the  family  gives  a  pair  of  woollen  gloves  to 
one  of  the  men  —  most  often  to  the  father,  sometimes  to  the 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  LITTLE  GOD  47 

strongest  of  her  sons,  who  goes  outside  to  bring  in  the  Bad- 
nyak.  Tall  wax  candles  are  set  on  either  side  the  open  door, 
and  in  front  of  it  the  mother  stands  with  the  wooden  bowl  in 
her  hands.  As  the  log  is  brought  in  she  throws  a  handful  of 
wheat  at  the  bearer,  who  says,  "  Good  evening,  and  may  you 
have  a  happy  Badnyi  Day."  He  is  answered  by  a  chorus  of 
greetings  from  all  in  the  room.  In  some  parts  of  the  country 
each  man  present  brings  in  a  log  and  at  each  is  thrown  a  little 
wheat  in  sign  of  the  wish  that,  in  the  year  to  come,  food  may 
be  plenty  enough  to  throw  away.  A  glass  of  red  wine  is  then 
sprinkled  on  the  log,  and  the  oldest  and  the  strongest  of  the 
family  together  place  it  on  the  burning  fire  in  such  a  way  that 
the  thick  end  of  the  log  sticks  out  above  the  hearth  for  about 
a  foot.  And  sometimes  you  may  see  a  prudent  father  smear 
the  end  of  it  with  honey  and  place  on  it  a  bowl  of  wheat,  an 
orange,  and  the  ploughshare,  that  they  may  be  so  warmed  by 
the  Christmas  fire  that  the  cattle  shall  be  fed,  the  bees  indus- 
trious, and  the  trees  and  fields  be  fruitful,  through  all  the  year. 

The  Day  of  the   Little  God 

There  is  so  little  sleep  for  the  Servian  peasant  on  a 
Christmas  morning  that  very  few  except  the  old  and  the 
babies  go  to  bed  at  all  on  the  night  before  "  the  day  of  the 
little  God,"  as  it  is  called.  For  one  thing,  the  new  Badnyak, 
the  great  log  on  the  Christmas  fire,  must  be  kept  burning  all 
the  time,  and  brightly.  Then  the  all-important  pig  must  be 
set  to  roast  early.     When  it  is  ready  and  laid  before  the  fire, 


48  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

some  one  goes  outside  and  fires  off  a  gun  or  pistol ;  and  when 
the  roasted  pig  is  taken  from  the  fire,  the  shooting  is  repeated. 
From  four  to  eight  o'clock  on  a  Christmas  morning  every 
Servian  village  reechoes  as  if  it  were  celebrating  the  Fourth 
of  July  with  cannon  crackers. 

Just  before  sunrise  some  young  girl  of  the  family  goes 
to  the  fountain,  or  the  brook  from  which  they  usually  get 
their  drinking  water.  Before  she  fills  her  pots  or  jars  she 
greets  the  water,  wishing  it  a  happy  Christmas,  and  throws 
into  it  a  handful  of  wheat.  The  first  cupfuls  of  water  drawn 
are  put  into  a  special  jar  and  are  used  to  make  the  "  Ches- 
nitza,"  the  Christmas  cake,  which  is  to  be  divided  into  a  piece 
for  each  member  of  the  family,  present  or  absent.  A  small 
silver  coin  baked  into  it  is  supposed  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  that 
member  of  the  family  who  is  to  meet  with  special  good  fortune 
during  the  coming  year. 

No  other  visitor  is  allowed  to  enter  the  house  before  the 
"  Polaznik,"  the  Christmas  guest,  has  come.  The  part  is 
usually  taken  by  some  boy  from  a  neighbors  family,  who 
comes  very  early  and  brings  with  him  a  woollen  glove  full 
of  wheat.  When  at  his  knock  the  door  is  opened,  he  showers 
the  wheat  over  those  around  the  brightly  burning  fire  and  into 
all  corners  of  the  room  with  the  greeting,  "  Christ  is  born." 
The  mother  of  the  family  throws  a  handful  of  wheat  at  him 
and  all  the  others  shout,  "  In  truth,  He  is  born ! "  The  guest 
then  walks  straight  to  the  fire,  and  with  the  heavy  shovel 
strikes  the  burning  log  with  all  his  force  repeatedly,  so  that 
thousands  of  sparks  rise  high  in  the  chimney,  while  he  says, 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  LITTLE  GOD  49 

11  May  you  have  this  year  so  many  oxen,  so  many  horses,  so 
many  sheep,  so  many  pigs,  so  many  beehives  of  honey,  so 
much  good  luck,  so  much  success  and  happiness."  After  this 
good  wish  he  kisses  his  host,  drops  to  his  knees  before  the 
Christmas  log  on  the  fire,  kisses  one  end  of  it,  which  sticks 
out  of  the  fireplace  into  the  room,  and  places  a  coin  upon  it 
as  his  gift.  As  he  rises,  a  woman  offers  him  a  low  wooden 
chair,  but  just  as  he  seats  himself  draws  it  away  so  that  he 
sits  down  hard  upon  the  ground,  and  is  thus  supposed  to  fix 
to  it  firmly  every  good  wish  he  has  spoken.  Finally  he  is 
wrapped  in  a  thick  blanket,  and  with  it  around  him  sits 
quietly  for  a  few  minutes  while  the  young  folks  who  are  to 
tend  the  flocks  and  herds  in  the  coming  year  come  to  the 
hearth  and  kiss  each  other  solemnly  across  the  Christmas  log. 
The  wearing  of  the  blanket  is  said  to  insure  thick  cream  in 
the  next  year,  and  the  shepherds'  kisses  will  make  for  peace 
and  plenty  among  the  cattle. 

Before  the  chief  meal  of  the  day,  all  the  members  of  the 
family  gather  about  its  head,  each  with  a  lighted  candle  in 
hand,  while  he  prays  briefly.  Then  they  turn  and  kiss  each 
other  with  such  greetings  as :  "  Peace  of  God  be  with  us ! " 
"  Christos  is  born  ! "  "  In  truth,  He  is  born  !  "  "  Therefore 
let  us  bow  before  Christos  and  His  birth."  And  toward  the 
end  of  the  meal  all  stand  to  drink  "  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
of  the  birth  of  Christ,"  which  marks  the  end  of  the  Christmas 
celebration. 


50  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Nature  Folk-lore  of  Christmastide 

Among  all  the  older  peoples  of  Europe  there  are  many  bits 
of  folk  stories  which  tell  of  the  wonderful  peace  which  fell  upon 
the  world  on  the  night  of  the  Holy  Eve.  A  Bosnian  legend 
says  that  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ  "  the  sun  in  the  east 
bowed  down,  the  stars  stood  still,  the  mountains  and  the  forests 
shook  and  touched  the  earth  with  their  summits,  and  the  green 
pine  tree  bent,  .  .  .  the  grass  was  beflowered  with  opening  blos- 
soms, incense  sweet  as  myrrh  pervaded  upland  and  forest,  birds 
sang  on  the  mountain  top,  and  all  gave  thanks  to  the  great 
God."  This  belief  in  the  holy  and  gracious  kinship  of  all 
nature  at  this  season  finds  expression  in  many  countries  in  an 
added  tenderness  for  all  living  things  during  Yuletide.  The 
very  sparrows,  whose  nests  the  boys  are  free  to  raid  at  any  other 
time,  have  a  sheaf  of  rye  set  up  for  their  Christmas  feast,  says 
Mr.  Riis,  who  tells  that  once,  stranded  in  a  Michigan  town,  he 
was  wandering  about  the  streets  and  came  upon  such  a  sheaf 
raised  upon  a  pole  in  a  dooryard.  "  I  knew  at  once,"  he  says, 
"  that  one  of  my  people  lived  in  that  house  and  kept  Yule  in 
the  old  way.     So  I  felt  as  if  I  were  not  quite  a  stranger." 

In  England,  robins  are  the  birds  of  Christmas  time;  an 
old  legend  has  it  that  on  the  day  of  Christ's  suffering  the  robin 
fluttered  beside  Him,  and  in  trying  to  pluck  thorns  from  His 
crown  stained  its  breast  crimson. 

So  ever  when  the  snow  comes  round 
To  crown  the  wintry  year, 


Christmas   Poems  and   Carols 


Under  the  Holly-Bough 

By  Charles  Mackay 
Ye   who   have   scorned   each    other, 
Or  injured   friend  or  brother, 

i  n  this  fast  fading  year  ; 
Ye  who,  by  word  or  deed, 
Have  made  a  kind  heart  bleed, 

Come  gather  here. 

Let   sinned   against   and    sinning 
Forget    their    strife's    beginning, 

And  join  in  friendship  now  ; 
Be   links  no   longer   brol 
^1)  Be    sweet    forgiveness    spoken 

Under   the   holly-bough. 

ti^Ye  who   have  loved  each   other, 

'Sister  and   friend  and  brother, 
)CU-     In    this    fast-fading    year; 
f.  Mother  and  sire  and   child, 
/irYoung   man    and    maiden    mild, 
H       Come  gather  here  : 

afAnd   let  your   hearts  grow    fonder, 

j  \s  memory   shall   ponder 

Each  past  unbroken  vow.  _ 
'yt^'d  loves  and  younger  wooing 
;f  Are  sweet  in  the  renewing, 
Y       Under   the    holly-bough. 

Ye  who  have  nourished  sadness, 
3)  Estranged  from  hope  and  gladness, 

In  this  fast-fading  year  ; 
'     Ye,  with  o'erburdened  mind, 

Made  aliens  from  your  kind, 
t       Come  gather  here. 


p     Let  not  the   useless  sorrow 
Pursue  you  night  and  morrow. 

If  e'er  you  hoped,  hope  now — 
Take  heart ;  uncloud  your  faces, 
And  join  in  our  embraces, 

Under  the  holly-bough. 

A  Christmas   Song 

By  William  Makepeace  Thackeray 

Come  wealth  or  want,  come  good  or  ill, 
s;   Let  young  and  old  accept  their  part, 
And  bow  before  the  Awful  Will. 

And  bear  it  with  an  honest  heart. 
Who  misses  or  who  wins  the  prize, 

Go,  lose  or  conquer  as  you  can ; 
But  if  you  fail  or  if  you  rise, 

Be  each,  pray  God,  a  gentleman. 

. ,  A  gentleman,  or  old  or  young 

(Bear  kindly  with   my   humble   lays), 
The  sacred  chorus  first  was  sung 

Upon  the  first  of  Christmas  days. 
The  shepherds  heard  it  overhead — 

The  joyful  angels  raised  it  then, 
Glory  to  heaven  on  high,  it  said. 

And  peace  on  earth  to  gentle  men. 

My  song,  save  this,  is  little  worth  : 

I  lay  the  weary  pen  aside, 
And  wish  you  health  and  love  and  mirth, 

As  fits  the  solemn  Christmas-tide, 
As  fits  the  holy  Christmas  birth. 

Be  this,  good  friends,  our  carol  still — 
Be  peace  on  earth,  be  peace  on  earth, 

To  men  of  gentle  will. 

The  Two  Spruce-Trees 

Upon  a  mountain,  side  by  side, 
Two  friendly  spruces  stood. 

And  one  was  tall  and  filled  with  pride — 
The  monarch  of  the  wood. 

The  other  was  a  lowly  tree. 

Not  more  than  six  feet  high, 
And  other  spruces  laughed  to  see 

It  struggle  toward  the  sky. 

The  m  march   from  his  dizzy  height 
Would  shout,  "Why  don't  you  grow  ?" 

Aloe      Q    +<»mr»*=>-e*.    ramp    OtlP    niPfK* 


Jest  'Fore  Christmas 

By  Eugene   Field 

Father    calls    me    William;    sister    calls 

Will; 
Mother  rails   me   Willie,   but   the   fellers 

Bill. 
Mighty    glad    I    ain't  a  girl— ruthcr   be 

a   boy, 
Without    them    sashes,    curls    an     things 

that's    worn    by    Fauntkmy  ! 
Love    to    chawnk    green    apples    an'    go 

swimmin'   in   the  lake — 
Hate    to    take    the    castor  ile    they    give 

for  belly-ache ! 
'Most    all     the     time,     the     whole     year 

'round,  they  ain't  no  flies  on  me, 
But  jest  Tore  Christmas  I'm  as  good  as 

I  kin  be  ! 

Got    a    yeller    dog    named   "Sport,    sick 

him  on  the  cat  ; 
First  thing  she  knows  she  doesn't  know 

where   she's   at ! 
Got  a  clipper  sled,  an'  when  us  kids  go 

out  to  slide, 
'Long   comes   the   grocery   cart,   an'    we 

all  hook  a  ride ! 
But   sometimes    when   the    grocery    man 

is  worried  an'  cross. 
He    reaches    at    us    with    his    whip    an' 

larrups  up  his  hoss  ; 
An'    then    I    laff    an'    holler:     "Oh,    ye 

never  teched  me  !" 
But  jest  'fore  Christmas  I'm  as  good  as 

I  kin  be ! 

Granmar   says   she   hopes   that   when    I 

git  to  be  a  man, 
I'll    be    a    missionarer    like    her    eldest 

brother   Dan, 
As  was  et  up  by  cannibals  that  lives  on 

Ceylon's    Isle, 
Where  every  prospeck  pleases  an'  only 

man   is  vile : 
But    Granmar    she    has    never    been    to 

see  a  Wild-West  fliow, 
Nor  read  the  life  of   Daniel  Boone,  or 

else,    I    guess,    she'd   know 
That    Buff'lo    Bill   and   cowboys   is  good 

enough   for  me  ! 
But  jest  'fore  Christmas  I'm  as  good  as 

I  kin  be! 


An'  then  old  Sport  he  hangs  around  as 

solemn  like  an'   still. 
His  eyes,  them  seem  a-sayin' :   "What's    j 

the  matter,  Little  Bill?" 
The  old  cat  sneaks  down  off  her  perch 

an'   wonders   what's  become 
Of  them  two  enemies  of  hern  that  use 

to   make   things   hum  ! 
But  I'm  so  polite  and  ten'  so  earnestly 

to  biz, 
That    Mother    says    to    Father:      "How 

improved  our  Willie  is!" 
But  Father,  havin'  been  a  boy  himself, 

suspicions   me 
When  jest  'fore  Christmas  I'm  as  good 

as   I   kin  be!" 

For  Christmas,  with  its  lots  and  lots  of 

candy,  cakes  and  toys. 
Was    made,    they    say.    for   proper   kids, 

and   not   for  naughty   boys ; 
So  wash  yer  face   and  brush  your  hair 

an'  mind  your  p's  and  q's. 
An'   don't  bust  out  your  pantaloons  an' 

don't  wear  out  yer  shoes  : 
Say   "yessum"    to    the   ladies   and   "yes-    j 

sur"   to   the   men. 
An'    when    there's    company,    don't    pass 

your   plate   for   pie   again  : 
But  thinkin'  of  the  things  yer'd  like  to 

see  upon  that   tree. 
Jest  'fore  Christmas  be  as  good  as  yer 

kin  be ! 

Christmas  Eve 


NATURE   FOLK-LORE   OF   CHRISTMASTIDE  51 

Perched  high  upon  the  holly  bough 
Red  Robin  warbles  clear. 

No  other  songster  on  the  spray 

At  Christmas  time  is  heard, 
But  when  the  Saviour's  birth  we  keep, 

We  hear  the  Saviour's  bird. 

The  Spanish  show  special  kindness  at  this  time  to  any  ass  or 
cow,  believing  that  on  Holy  Night  they  breathed  upon  the 
Christchild  to  keep  Him  warm.  Many  other  quaint  old  beliefs 
used  to  be  common  about  how  the  animals  act  at  Christmas 
time.  From  northern  Canada  comes  the  Indian  saying  that  on 
the  Holy  Night  the  deer  all  kneel  and  look  up  to  the  Great 
Spirit,  but  that  whoever  spies  upon  them  will  have  stiffness  in 
his  knees  for  all  the  year  to  come.  In  the  German  Alps  it  was 
believed  that  animals  have  the  gift  of  speech  on  Christmas 
Eve,  but  that  he  who  listens  will  surely  hear  them  foretell  some 
evil  for  the  listener.  Of  a  like  belief  Mr.  Riis  says  that,  when 
he  was  a  boy  :  — 

"All  the  animals  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  holiday 
had  come,  and  kept  it  in  their  way.  The  watch-dog  was 
unchained.  In  the  midnight  hour  on  the  Holy  Eve  the 
cattle  stood  up  in  their  stalls  and  bowed  out  of  respect  and 
reverence  for  Him  who  was  laid  in  a  manger  when  there 
was  no  room  in  the  inn,  and  in  that  hour  speech  was  given 
them,  and  they  talked  together.  Claus,  our  neighbor's  man, 
had  seen  and  heard  it,  and  every  Christmas  Eve  I  meant 
fully   to    go    and    be    there   when    it   happened ;    but    always 


52  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK   OF   CHRISTMAS 

long  before  that  I  had  been  led  away  to  bed,  a  very  sleepy 
boy,  with  all  my  toys  hugged  tight,  and  when  I  woke  up 
the  daylight  shone  through  the  frosted  window-panes,  and 
they  were  blowing  good  morning  from  the  church  tower; 
it  would  be  a  whole  year  before  another  Christmas.  So  I 
vowed,  with  a  sigh  at  having  neglected  a  really  sacred 
observance,  that  I  would  be  there  sure  on  the  next  Christmas 
Eve.  But  it  was  always  so,  every  year,  and  perhaps  it 
was  just  as  well,  for  Claus  said  that  it  might  go  ill  with 
the   one   who    listened,    if   the   cows    found   him    out." 

In  the  older  parts  of  Montenegro,  the  head  of  the  family 
and  his  shepherd  boy  still  follow  the  quaint  old  custom 
of  lighting  the  animals  to  their  stalls  on  Christmas  Eve. 
Each  takes  a  lighted  wax  candle  and  they  go  together  into 
every  stall  in  turn,  holding  the  candles  for  a  moment  in 
each  of  its  corners.  Then,  at  the  stable  door  they  take 
stand,  one  at  each  side  of  it,  and  hold  their  candles  high 
while  the  little  shepherdess  drives  the  animals  in.  One  by 
one,  sheep,  goats,  and  oxen,  they  pass  between  the  flick- 
ering lights.  After  that,  the  shepherd  boy  and  the  little 
shepherdess  kiss  each  other  "  that  the  cattle  may  live  in 
peace   and   love,"    they  say. 


GOOD   KING  WENCESLAS  53 

Good   King  Wenceslas 

Good   King  Wenceslas  looked  out 

On  the  Feast  of  Stephen, 
When  the  snow  lay  round  about, 

Deep,  and  crisp,  and  even. 

Brightly  shone  the  moon  that  night, 

Though  the  frost  was  cruel, 
When  a  poor  man  came  in  sight, 

Gath'ring  winter  fuel. 

"  Hither,  page,  and  stand  by  me, 

If  thou  know'st  it  telling, 
Yonder  peasant,  who  is  he? 

Where  and  what  his  dwelling  ?  " 

"  Sire,  he  lives  a  good  league  hence, 

Underneath  the  mountain; 
Right  against  the  forest  fence, 

By  St.  Agnes'  fountain." 

"  Bring  me  flesh,  and  bring  me  wine, 

Bring  me  pine  logs  hither; 
Thou  and  I  will  see  him  dine, 

When  we  bear  them  thither." 

Page  and  monarch  forth  they  went, 

Forth  they  went  together; 
Through  the  rude  wind's  wild  lament, 

And  the  bitter  weather." 


54  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

"  Sire,  the  night  is  darker  now, 

And  the  wind  blows  stronger; 
Fails  my  heart,  I  know  not  how, 

I  can  go  no  longer." 

"  Mark  my  footsteps,  good  my  page ! 

Tread  thou  in  them  boldly; 
Thou  shalt  find  the  winter's  rage 

Freeze  thy  blood  less  coldly." 

In  his  master's  steps  he  trod, 

Where  the  snow  lay  dinted ; 
Heat  was  in  the  very  sod 

Which  the  saint  had  printed. 

Therefore,  Christian  men,  be  sure, 

Wealth  or  rank  possessing, 
Ye  who  now  will  bless  the  poor, 

Shall  yourselves  find  blessing. 

A   Mexican  "  Mystery  '    seen  by  Bayard  Taylor 

Against  the  wing-wall  of  the  Hacienda  del  Mayo,  which 
occupied  one  end  of  the  plaza,  was  raised  a  platform,  on  which 
stood  a  table  covered  with  a  scarlet  cloth.  A  rude  bower  of 
cane  leaves  on  one  end  of  the  platform  represented  the  man- 
ger of  Bethlehem,  while  a  cord  stretched  from  its  top  across 
the  plaza  to  a  hole  in  the  front  of  the  church  bore  a  large  tinsel 
star,  suspended  by  a  hole  in  its  centre.  There  was  quite  a 
crowd  in  the  plaza,  and  very  soon  a  procession  appeared,  com- 


A  MEXICAN   "MYSTERY"    SEEN  BY  BAYARD   TAYLOR  55 

ing  up  from  the  lower  part  of  the  village.  The  three  kings 
took  the  lead;  the  Virgin,  mounted  on  an  ass  that  gloried  in  a 
gilded  saddle  and  rose-besprinkled  mane  and  tail,  followed  them, 
led  by  the  angel ;  and  several  women,  with  curious  masks  of 
paper,  brought  up  the  rear.  Two  characters,  of  the  harlequin 
sort  —  one  with  a  dog's  head  on  his  shoulders,  and  the  other  a 
bald-headed  friar,  with  a  huge  hat  hanging  on  his  back  —  played 
all  sorts  of  antics  for  the  diversion  of  the  crowd.  After  making 
the  circuit  of  the  plaza,  the  Virgin  was  taken  to  the  platform, 
and  entered  the  manger.  King  Herod  took  his  seat  at  the  scar- 
let table,  with  an  attendant  in  blue  coat  and  red  sash,  whom  I 
took  to  be  his  Prime  Minister.  The  three  kings  remained  on 
their  horses  in  front  of  the  church  ;  between  them  and  the  plat- 
form, under  the  string  on  which  the  star  was  to  slide,  walked  two 
men  in  long  white  robes  and  blue  hoods,  with  parchment  folios 
in  their  hands.  These  were  the  Wise  Men  of  the  East,  as  one 
might  readily  know  from  their  solemn  air,  and  the  mysterious 
glances  which  they  cast  toward  all  quarters  of  the  heavens. 

In  a  little  while,  a  company  of  women  on  the  platform, 
concealed  behind  a  curtain,  sang  an  angelic  chorus  to  the  tune 
of  "  Opescator  dell'  onda."  At  the  proper  moment,  the  Magi 
turned  toward  the  platform,  following  the  star,  to  which  a 
string  was  conveniently  attached  that  it  might  be  slid  along  the 
line.  The  three  kings  followed  the  star  till  it  reached  the 
manger,  when  they  dismounted,  and  inquired  for  the  sovereign, 
whom  it  had  led  them  to  visit.  They  were  invited  upon  the 
platform  and  introduced  to  Herod,  as  the  only  king  ;  this  did  not 
seem  to  satisfy  them,  and,  after  some  conversation,  they  retired. 


56  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

By  this  time  the  star  had  receded  to  the  other  end  of  the  line 
and  commenced  moving  again,  they  following.  The  angel 
called  them  into  the  manger,  where,  upon  their  knees,  they  were 
shown  a  small  wooden  box,  supposed  to  contain  the  sacred  in- 
fant: they  then  retired,  and  the  star  brought  them  back  no 
more.  After  this  departure,  King  Herod  declared  himself 
greatly  confused  by  what  he  had  witnessed,  and  was  very  much 
afraid  this  newly  found  king  would  weaken  his  power.  Upon 
consultation  with  his  Prime  Minister,  the  Massacre  of  the  Inno- 
cents was  decided  upon,  as  the  only  means  of  security. 

The  angel,  on  hearing  this,  gave  warning  to  the  Virgin, 
who  quickly  got  down  from  the  platform,  mounted  her  be- 
spangled donkey,  and  hurried  off.  Herod's  Prime  Minister  di- 
rected all  the  children  to  be  handed  up  for  execution.  A  boy, 
in  ragged  sarape,  was  caught  and  thrust  forward;  the  Minister 
took  him  by  the  heels  in  spite  of  his  kicking,  and  held  his  head 
on  the  table.  The  little  brother  and  sister  of  the  boy,  thinking  he 
was  really  to  be  decapitated,  yelled  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  in 
an  agony  of  terror,  which  threw  the  crowd  into  a  roar  of  laughter. 
King  Herod  brought  down  his  sword  with  a  whack  on  the 
table,  and  the  Prime  Minister,  dipping  his  brush  into  a  pot  of 
white  paint  which  stood  before  him,  made  a  flaring  cross  on 
the  boy's  face.  Several  other  boys  were  caught  and  served 
likewise ;  and  finally,  the  two  harlequins,  whose  kicks  and 
struggles  nearly  shook  down  the  platform.  The  procession 
then  went  off  up  the  hill,  followed  by  the  whole  population  of 
the  village. 


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THE   CHRISTMAS   TREE    MARKET    IN    NEW   YORK 


BREAKING  THE   PIN  ATE  57 

Breaking  the   Pifiate 

If  you  were  in  Mexico  the  week  before  Christmas  you 
would  not  find  one  Christmas  tree,  unless  it  were  in  some  town 
where  Americans  have  been  living  for  a  good  while.  But 
everywhere  children  would  be  talking  about  breaking  a  pifiate 
(pronounced  pin-yah-tay)  as  you  talk  of  having  a  tree.  In  the 
small  stalls  set  up  in  the  plazas  for  the  sale  of  Christmas  gifts 
'  there  are  hundreds  of  different  gayly  colored  pinates.  Some 
are  bowl-shaped  or  oval  jars  made  out  of  the  coarse  red  earthen- 
ware of  Puebla,  painted  with  dashes  of  yellow  and  black  in  pat- 
terns that  have  been  copied  from  old  Indian  pottery.  Others 
are  made  of  paper  in  gay  stripes  of  red  and  yellow,  in  shape 
like  tissue-paper  balloons,  and  are  decorated  with  tinsel  orna- 
ments and  streamers  of  bright-colored  paper,  such  as  are  hung 
on  Christmas  trees.  Others  still  are  made  in  the  shape  of  gro- 
tesque figures,  clowns  with  baggy  trousers,  dancing  girls  in 
wide-spread  skirts,  monks  in  long  cloaks,  and  animals.  All  of 
them,  jars  or  paper  figures,  are  easily  breakable ;  they  are 
stuffed  with  sweets,  crackers,  rattles,  whistles,  or  any  other  toys 
which  are  small  and  light,  and  parents  hang  them  —  usually  on 
Christmas  Eve  —  from  the  ceiling  of  a  room  or  from  a  branch 
of  a  tree  in  the  courtyard.  Each  child  of  the  family  in  turn 
after  being  blindfolded,  given  a  long  stick,  and  led  some  distance 
away  from  the  hanging  piriate,  is  allowed  to  grope  toward  where 
he  thinks  it  is  and  to  strike  out  at  it  three  times  in  the  effort 
to  break  it.  If  he  fails,  another  is  given  the  chance.  Mexican 
families  are  large  and  often  a  father  and  all  his  sons  live  to- 


58  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

gether  in  square,  flat-roofed  buildings  of  sun-dried  brick  around 
a  common  courtyard.  So  there  is  a  deal  of  laughter  and  excit- 
ment  as  one  child  after  another  makes  his  trial.  At  last  one 
manages  to  hit  the  pihate  so  that  it  breaks  open  and  toys,  sweets, 
and  ornaments  come  down  in  a  shower.  This  is  the  moment 
for  which  the  children  crowding  around  have  been  waiting,  and 
they  swoop  down  upon  the  dainties  in  a  joyous  scramble.  The 
successful  child  usually  receives  a  special  prize ;  for,  blindfolded 
as  he  is,  he  stands  small  chance  of  getting  anything  else. 

Breaking  the  pinate  usually  follows  a  curious  ceremony  in 
which  all  those  present  walk  together  around  the  house  several 
times  chanting  a  litany.  The  procession  is  in  memory  of  the 
night  when  Joseph  and  Mary  journeyed  to  Bethlehem  and 
found  no  room  in  the  inn.  Often  even  the  donkey  belonging 
to  the  family  is  brought  into  the  ceremony.  After  the  litany 
some  go  within  the  house  while  others  outside  sing  a  plea  for 
admittance,  which  is  at  first  roughly  refused.  Finally  they  are 
admitted,  and  another  hymn  is  followed  by  feasting  and  merry- 
making, of  which  breaking  the  pinate  is  the  children's  part. 


CHRISTMAS   UPON  A   GREENLAND   ICEBERG  59 

Christmas  upon  a  Greenland   Iceberg 

One  hot  June  day  in  1869  there  was  a  great  stir  in  the 
new  harbor  of  Bremerhaven  in  Germany;  at  its  entrance 
lay  two  stout  ships,  the  Germania  and  the  Hansa,  fully 
fitted  out  for  Arctic  exploration.  Visitors  and  messengers 
were  going  back  and  forth.  The  King  of  Prussia  himself, 
with  many  of  his  nobles,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
Schwerin,  Count  Bismarck,  and  General  von  Moltke  among 
them,  had  come  from  Berlin  to  say  Godspeed  to  the  com- 
mander and  the  scientific  gentlemen  who  were  braving 
unknown  dangers,  and  certain  privations  and  hardships  "  for 
the  honor  of  the  German  navy  and  of  German  science,"  as 
his  Majesty  expressed  it. 

The  last  of  the  cases  of  stores  hoisted  on  board  the 
Hansa  were  stowed  away  with  a  peculiar  laughing  tender- 
ness. They  were  stout  chests  cased  in  lead  in  which  friends 
of  these  explorers  had  placed  such  friendly  little  trifles  as 
are  inseparable  from  the  celebration  of  Christmas  wherever 
the  Germans  may  be. 

There  is  no  place  in  this  book  for  the  story  of  their 
adventures  in  the  slow  voyage  up  beyond  the  ice  line.  In 
July,  by  some  misunderstanding  of  signals,  the  two  ships 
separated,  never  to  meet  again.  In  September  the  Hansa 
was  caught  in  a  great  field  of  floating  ice  and  was  carried 
for  two  hundred  days  thereafter  in  the  drift  of  the  floe.  An 
October  storm  so  racked  the  ship  that  her  captain  and  crew 
were  forced  to  abandon  her  and    carry  everything   out    upon 


60  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

the  ice.  The  great  coal-bin  of  the  ship  was  taken  out  and 
turned  into  a  store  hut.  All  the  supplies  were  taken  there, 
the  ship's  three  boats  were  carefully  secured,  everything  was 
taken  from  the  Hansa  which  could  be  used  for  fuel,  and  at 
last  the  ship  was  cut  away  from  the  ice  lest  in  sinking  she 
destroy  them. 

Then  began  a  frightful  period  of  drifting.  Storm  after 
storm  put  them  in  danger  of  a  sudden  death  which  may 
have  seemed  more  desirable  than  waiting  for  the  winds  and 
currents  to  carry  them  slowly  into  a  warmer  sea  and  toward 
the  natural  breaking  up  of  the  ice-floe.  Hope  of  rescue  in 
those  lonely  waters  was  faint. 

But  they  lived  bravely  and  worked  steadily,  constructing 
around  the  main  hut,  from  the  timbers  saved  from  the 
Hansa,  small  black  shelters  in  which,  all  but  buried  in  the 
snow,  the  men  lived.  And  that  they  kept  Christmas  in 
true  German  fashion  the  log  of  the  vessel  tells :  — 

"  The  tree  was  erected  in  the  afternoon,  while  the  greater 
part  of  the  crew  took  a  walk ;  and  the  lonely  hut  shone  with 
wonderful  brightness  amid  the  snow.  Christmas  upon  a 
Greenland  iceberg !  The  tree  was  artistically  put  together  of 
flrwood  and  ravelled  matweed  [hemp?],  and  Dr.  Laube  had 
saved  a  twist  of  wax  taper  for  the  illumination.  Chains  of 
colored  paper  and  newly  baked  cakes  were  not  wanting,  and  the 
men  had  made  a  knapsack  and  a  revolver  case  as  a  present  for 
the  captain.  We  opened  the  leaden  chests  of  presents  from 
Professor  Hochstetter  and  the  Geological  Society,  and  were 
much   amused   by  their  contents.     Each  man  had  a  glass  of 


LUTHER'S   CHRISTMAS   CAROL   FOR   CHILDREN  61 

port  wine ;  and  we  then  turned  over  the  old  newspapers  which 
we  found  in  the  chests,  and  drew  lots  for  the  presents,  which 
consisted  of  small  musical  instruments,  such  as  fifes,  jews '-harps, 
trumpets,  etc.,  with  draughts  and  other  games,  puppets, 
crackers,  etc.  In  the  evening  we  feasted  on  chocolate  and 
gingerbread." 

"  We  observed  the  day  very  quietly,"  wrote  Dr.  Laube  in 
his  diary.  "  If  this  Christmas  be  the  last  we  are  to  see,  it  was 
at  least  a  cheerful  one ;  but  should  a  happy  return  home  be 
decreed  for  us,  the  next  will,  we  trust,  be  a  far  brighter.  May 
God  so  grant !  " 

And  He  did.  But  that  is  not  a  Christmas  story,  and  you 
will  have  to   look  elsewhere  for  it.  ■ 

Luther's  Christmas  Carol  for  Children 

Good  news  from  Heaven  the  angels  bring, 

Glad  tidings  to  the  earth  they  sing: 

To  us  this  day  a  child  is  given, 

To  crown  us  with  the  joy  of  heaven. 

This  is  the  Christ,  our  Lord  and  God, 
Who  in  all  need  shall  aid  afford : 
He  will   Himself  our  Saviour  be, 
From  sin  and  sorrow  set  us  free. 

To  us  that  blessedness  He  brings, 
Which  from  the  Father's  bounty  springs: 
That  in  the  heavenly  realm  we  may 
With  Him  enjoy  eternal  day. 


62  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

All  hail,  Thou  noble  Guest,  this  morn, 
Whose  love  did  not  the  sinner  scorn  I 
In  my  distress  Thou  cam'st  to  me: 
What  thanks  shall  I  return  to  Thee? 

Were  earth  a  thousand  times  as  fair, 
Beset  with  gold  and  jewels  rare, 
She  yet  were  far  too  poor  to  be 
A  narrow  cradle,  Lord,  for  Thee. 

Ah,  dearest  Jesus,  Holy  Child! 
Make  Thee  a  bed,  soft,  undefined, 
Within  my  heart,  that  it  may  be 
A  quiet  chamber  kept  for  Thee. 

Praise  God  upon  His  heavenly  throne, 
Who  gave  to  us  His  only  Son: 
For  this  His  hosts,  on  joyful  wing, 
A  blest  New  Year  of  mercy  sing. 


y 


THE   GOOD   NIGHT  IN   SPAIN  63 

The  Good   Night  in   Spain 

If  you  were  a  child  in  Spain,  you  would  not  be  talking  of 
Christmas  trees  in  the  late  December  days,  but  of  navidades, 
or  "nativities."  These  are  tiny  models  of  a  scene  supposed 
to  be  Bethlehem.  Some  of  them  are  very  simple,  made  of 
cardboard,  colored  paper,  bits  of  stone  and  sand.  On  one 
side  is  a  hill,  built  up  of  paper  or  plaster,  and  in  the  side  of 
it  is  the  cave  to  which  the  gentle  cattle  were  used  to  come 
for  food  and  shelter.  By  its  crude  match-wood  manger  stand 
or  sit  little  figures  of  the  Holy  Family.  Often  these  are  mod- 
elled from  beautiful  designs,  the  work  of  famous  artists  who 
put  their  highest  skill  into  creating  the  tiny  images  of  the 
mother  and  the  Holy  Child.  Outside  the  cave  stand  the 
patient  oxen,  and  perhaps  the  donkey  upon  which  the  Infant 
Christ  is  to  be  carried  out  of  the  reach  of  Herod.  Overhead 
sparkles  a  shining  star.  Some  of  these  simple  "  nativities " 
can  be  bought  for  a  few  cents.  Others  made  of  better  mate- 
rials, or  with  greater  care,  and  with  many  figures,  are  more 
costly.  These  have,  besides  the  Holy  Family,  perhaps,  a  fire 
of  ruddy  tinfoil  around  which  shepherds  gather,  looking,  in 
their  straight  brown  cloaks,  as  if  they  might  have  stepped  from 
your  Noah's  ark,  and  back  of  them,  on  a  hillside  of  green  cloth, 
little  white  wool  lambs  feed  quietly.  In  still  another  you  may 
even  see  a  smuggler  with  a  slouch  hat  pulled  down  over  his 
eyes,  hiding  with  a  load  of  tobacco  behind  a  paper  rock  to 
leave  the  road  free  for  the  Three  Kings  who  in  all  their  tinsel 
go   journeying   to    worship  the   Holy   Child.     The  roads   are 


64  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

rough  with  bits  of  cork,  the  river  is  a  strip  of  glass,  and  the 
bridge  over  which  the  camels  of  the  Wise  Men  pass  is  clearly 
of  paper  stone;  the  rabbit  hiding  in  the  evergreens  is  quite  as 
large  as  the  donkey  saddled  for  the  flight  into  Egypt;  but  in 
the  magic  of  "the  Holy  Night"  all  seem  to  be  real,  to  live  and 
feel,  so  natural  and  tender  is  the  children's  faith  in  these  simple 
"  nativities,"  which  are  repeated  on  a  larger  scale  in  all  the 
churches. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  or  the  Good  Night,  as  the  Spanish 
children  say,  every  one  must  go  to  the  church  for  the  midnight 
mass,  and  of  course  no  one  goes  to  bed  before  that.  Early  in 
the  dusk  the  toy  dealers  bring  their  booths  and  flaming  naph- 
tha torches  to  the  village  plaza,  and  the  children  swarm  around 
them  like  flies  to  sweets.  All  the  week  before  groups  of  these 
children  have  been  going  from  door  to  door  at  night  singing 
to  familiar  tunes  ballads  which  tell  the  story  of  the  Nativity, 
and  he  is  a  poor  Spaniard  who  cannot  find  some  small  coins 
for  the  band  of  singers.  On  Holy  Night,  too,  after  they  have 
made  the  small  round  of  the  toy-dealers'  stands,  they  go  to 
each  other's  houses  to  look  at  the  different  nativities  and  sing 
one  carol  after  another  in  which  a  single  voice  carries  a  verse, 
remembered  or  made  up  at  the  time,  and  the  others  join  in  the 
refrain  while  two  of  them  dance.  At  the  end  of  each  verse  the 
two  whose  turn  it  has  been  to  dance  go  up  to  the  nativity 
with  flushed  cheeks  and  bright  eyes,  open  wide  their  little 
arms  and  fall  on  their  knees,  with  the  exclamation  "  For  Thee." 
In  some  places  the  children  will  instead  carry  a  nativity  into 
the  plaza,  singing  carols  in  which  every  one  joins. 


THE   GOOD   NIGHT  IN   SPAIN 

One  such  carol  is  this  lullaby:  — 

"The  Baby  Child  of  Mary, 
Now  cradle  He  has  none; 
His  father  is  a  carpenter 

And  he  shall  make  Him  one. 
His  father  is  a  carpenter 
And  he  shall  make  Him  one. 

"The  Lady,  good  St.  Anna, 
The  Lord,  St.  Joachim, 
They  rock  the  Baby's  cradle 
That  sleep  may  come  to  Him. 
They  rock  the  Babys  cradle 
That  sleep  may  come  to  Him. 

"Then  sleep  thou,  too,  my  baby, 
My  little  heart  so  dear; 
The  Virgin  is  beside  thee, 
The  Son  of  God  is  near. 
The  Virgin  is  beside  thee, 
The  Son  of  God  is  near" 


65 


66  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

A  Christmas  Tree  in  Japan 

It  was  a  huge  Christmas  tree,  the  first  that  had  ever  grown 
in  our  compound,1  for  the  children  of  our  servants  and  writers 
and  employees,  who  make  up  the  number  of  our  Legation 
population  to  close  on  two  hundred.  I  could  not  have  the  tree 
on  Christmas  Day,  owing  to  various  engagements;  so  it  was 
fixed  for  January  3,  and  was  quite  the  most  successful  enter- 
tainment I  ever  gave ! 

When  I  undertook  it,  I  confess  that  I  had  no  idea  how  many 
little  ones  belonged  to  the  compound.  I  sent  our  good  Ogita 
round  to  invite  them  all  solemnly  to  come  to  Ichiban  (Number 
One)  on  the  3d  at  five  o'clock.  Ogita  threw  himself  into  the 
business  with  delighted  good-will,  having  five  little  people  of 
his  own  to  include  in  the  invitation  ;  but  all  the  servants  were 
eager  to  help  as  soon  as  they  knew  we  were  preparing  a  treat 
for  the  children.  That  is  work  which  would  always  appeal  to 
Japanese  of  any  age  or  class.  No  trouble  is  too  great,  if  it 
brings  pleasure  to  the  "  treasure  flowers,"  as  the  babies  are 
called.  Some  of  them  were  not  little,  and  these  were  more 
difficult  to  buy  presents  for ;  but  after  many  cold  hours  passed 
in  the  different  bazaars,  it  seemed  to  me  that  there  must  be 
something  for  everybody,  although  we  had  really  spent  very 
little  money. 

The  wares  were  so  quaint  and  pretty  that  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  sort  and  handle  them.     There  were  work-boxes  in  beautiful 

1  The  British  Legation  compound  is  the  enclosure  in  which  the  official  representatives  of  the 
English  government  in  any  Japanese  city  live  with  their  assistants,  families,  and  servants. 


A   CHRISTMAS   TREE   IN   JAPAN  67 

polished  woods,  with  drawers  fitting  so  perfectly  that  when  you 
closed  one  the  compressed  air  at  once  shot  out  another.  There 
were  mirrors  enclosed  in  charming  embroidered  cases ;  for 
where  mirrors  are  mostly  made  of  metal,  people  learn  not  to 
let  them  get  scratched.  There  were  dollies  of  every  size,  and 
dolls'  houses  and  furniture,  kitchens,  farmyards,  rice-pounding 
machines — all  made  in  the  tiniest  proportions,  such  as  it  seemed 
no  human  fingers  could  really  have  handled.  For  the  elder 
boys  we  bought  books,  school-boxes  with  every  school  requisite 
contained  in  a  square  the  size  of  one's  hand,  and  penknives  and 
scissors,  which  are  greatly  prized  as  being  of  foreign  manufac- 
ture. For  decorations  we  had  an  abundant  choice  of  materials. 
I  got  forests  of  willow  branches  decorated  with  artificial  fruits ; 
pink  and  white  balls  made  of  rice  paste,  which  are  threaded  on 
the  twigs  ;  surprise  shells  of  the  same  paste,  two  lightly  stuck 
together  in  the  form  of  a  double  scallop  shell,  and  full  of  minia- 
ture toys  ;  kanzashi,  or  ornamental  hairpins  for  the  girls,  made 
flowers  of  gold  and  silver  among  my  dark  pine  branches ;  and 
I  wasted  precious  minutes  in  opening  and  shutting  these  dainty 
roses  —  buds  until  you  press  a  spring,  when  they  open  suddenly 
into  a  full-blown  rose.  But  the  most  beautiful  things  on  my 
tree  were  the  icicles,  which  hung  in  scores  from  its  sombre  foli- 
age, catching  rosy  gleams  of  light  from  our  lamps  as  we  worked 
late  into  the  night.  These  were — chopsticks,  long  glass  chop- 
sticks, which  I  discovered  in  the  bazaar ;  and  I  am  sure  Santa 
Klaus  himself  could  not  have  told  them  from  icicles.  Of  course 
every  present  must  be  labelled  with  a  child's  name,  and  here 
my  troubles  began.     Ogita  was  told  to  make  out  a  correct  list 


68  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

of  names  and  ages,  with  some  reference  to  the  calling  of  the 
parents ;  for  even  here  rank  and  precedence  must  be  observed, 
or  terrible  heart-burnings  might  follow.  The  list  came  at  last, 
and  if  it  were  not  so  long,  I  would  send  it  to  you  complete,  for 
it  is  a  curiosity.  Imagine  such  complicated  titles  as  these: 
"  Minister's  second  cook's  girl,  Ume,  age  2;  Minister's  servant's 
cousin's  boy,  age  11;"  "  Student's  interpreter's  teacher's  girl ; " 
"  Vice-Consul's  jinrikisha-man's  boy."  And  so  it  went  on,  till 
there  were  fifty-eight  of  them  of  all  ages,  from  one  up  to  nine- 
teen. Some  of  them,  indeed,  wTere  less  than  a  year  old  ;  and  I 
was  amused  on  the  evening  of  the  2d  at  having  the  list  brought 
back  to  me  with  this  note  (Ogita's  English  is  still  highly  indi- 
vidual ! )  "  Marked  X  is  declined  to  the  invitation."  On  looking 
down  the  column,  I  found  that  ominous  looking  cross  only 
against  one  name,  that  of  Yasu,  daughter  of  Ito  Kanejiro,  Mr. 

G 's  cook.     This  recalcitrant  little  person  turned  out  to  be 

six  weeks  old  —  an  early  age  for  parties  even  nowadays.  Miss 
Yasu,  having  been  born  in  November,  was  put  down  in  the 
following  January  as  two  years  old,  after  the  puzzling  Japanese 
fashion.  Then  I  found  that  they  would  write  boys  as  girls, 
girls  as  boys,  grown-ups  as  babies,  and  so  on.  Even  at  the  last 
moment  a  doll  had  to  be  turned  into  a  sword,  a  toy  tea-set  into 
a  work-box,  a  history  of  Europe  into  a  rattle ;  but  people  who 
grow  Christmas  trees  are  prepared  for  such  small  contingencies, 
and  no  one  knew  anything  about  it  when  on  Friday  afternoon 
the  great  tree  slowly  glowed  into  a  pyramid  of  light,  and  a  long 
procession  of  little  Japs  was  marshalled  in,  with  great  solemnity 
and  many  bows,  till  they  stood,  a  delighted,  wide-eyed  crowd, 


A   CHRISTMAS   TREE   IN   JAPAN  69 

round  the  beautiful  shining  thing,  the  first  Christmas  tree  any 
of  them  had  ever  seen.  It  was  worth  all  the  trouble  to  see  the 
gasp  of  surprise  and  delight,  the  evident  fear  that  the  whole 
thing  might  be  unreal  and  suddenly  fade  away.  One  little  man 
of  two  fell  flat  on  his  back  with  amazement,  tried  to  rise  and 
have  another  look,  and  in  so  doing  rolled  over  on  his  nose, 
where  he  lay  quite  silent  till  his  relatives  rescued  him.  Be- 
hind the  children  stood  the  mothers,  quite  as  pleased  as  they, 
and  with  them  one  very  old  lady  with  a  little  child  on  her  back. 
The  children  stood,  the  little  ones  in  front  and  the  taller 
ones  behind,  in  a  semicircle,  and  the  many  lights  showed 
their  bright  faces  and  gorgeous  costumes,  for  no  one  would 
be  outdone  by  another  in  smartness  —  I  fancy  the  poorer 
women  had  borrowed  from  richer  neighbors  —  and  the  re- 
sult was  picturesque  in  the  extreme.  The  older  girls  had 
their  heads  beautifully  dressed,  with  flowers  and  pins  and 
rolls  of  scarlet  crape  knotted  in  between  the  coils ;  their 
dresses  were  pale  green  or  blue,  with  bright  linings  and  stiff 
silk  obis ;  but  the  little  ones  were  a  blaze  of  scarlet,  green, 
geranium  pink,  and  orange,  their  long  sleeves  sweeping  the 
ground,  and  the  huge  flower  patterns  on  their  garments 
making  them  look  like  live  flowers  as  they  moved  about  on 
the  dark  velvet  carpet.  When  they  had  gazed  their  fill,  they 
were  called  up  to  me  one  by  one,  Ogita  addressing  them  all 
as  "San"  (Miss  or  Mr.),  even  if  they  could  only  toddle,  and 
I  gave  them  their  serious  presents  with  their  names,  writ- 
ten in  Japanese  and  English,  tied  on  with  red  ribbon  —  an 
attention   which,  as    I    was    afterwards    told,  they  appreciated 


70  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

greatly.  It  seemed  to  me  that  they  never  would  end ;  their 
size  varied  from  a  wee  mite  who  could  not  carry  its  own 
toys  to  a  tall,  handsome  student  of  sixteen,  or  a  gorgeous 
young  lady  in  green  and  mauve  crape,  and  a  head  that 
must  have  taken  the  best  part  of  the  day  to   dress. 

In  one  thing  they  were  all  alike ;  their  manners  were 
perfect.  There  was  no  pushing  or  grasping,  no  glances  of 
envy  at  what  other  children  received,  no  false  shyness  in 
their  sweet,  happy  way  of  expressing  their  thanks.  I  was 
puzzled  by  one  thing  about  the  children :  although  we  kept 
giving  them  sweets  and  oranges  off  the  tree,  every  time  I 
looked  around  the  big  circle  all  were  empty-handed  again, 
and  it  really  seemed  as  if  they  must  have  swallowed  the 
gifts,  gold  paper  and  ribbon  and  all.  But  at  last  I  noticed 
that  their  square,  hanging  sleeves  began  to  have  a  strange, 
lumpy  appearance,  like  a  conjurer's  waistcoat  just  before  he 
produces  twenty-four  bowls  of  live  goldfish  from  his  internal 
economy;  and  then  I  understood  that  the  plunder  was  at 
once  dropped  into  these  great  sleeves,  so  as  to  leave  hands 
free  for  anything  else  that  Okusama  might  think  good  to 
bestow.  One  little  lady,  O'Haru  San,  aged  three,  got  so 
overloaded  with  goodies  and  toys  that  they  kept  rolling  out 
of  her  sleeves,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  Brown  Ambassa- 
dor dachshund,  Tip,  who  pounced  on  them  like  lightning, 
and  was  also  convicted  of  nibbling  at  cakes  on  the  lower 
branches  of  the  tree. 

The  bigger  children  would  not  take  second  editions  of 
presents,    and    answered,    "  Honorable    thanks,    I    have ! "    if 


A   CHRISTMAS   TREE   IN   JAPAN  71 

offered  more  than  they  thought  their  share;  but  babies  are 
babies  all  the  world  over!  When  the  distribution  was  fin- 
ished at  last,  I  got  a  Japanese  gentleman  to  tell  them  the 
story  of  Christmas,  the  children's  feast;  and  then  they  came 
up  one  by  one  to  say  "  Sayonara "  ("  Since  it  must  be,"  the 
Japanese  farewell),  and  "  Arigato  gozaimasu "  ("  The  honor- 
able thanks  " ). 

"  Come  back  next  year,"  I  said ;  and  then  the  last  pres- 
ents were  given  out  —  beautiful  lanterns,  red,  lighted,  and 
hung  on  what  Ogita  calls  bumboos,  to  light  the  guests 
home  with.  One  tiny  maiden  refused  to  go,  and  flung 
herself  on  the  floor  in  a  passion  of  weeping,  saying  that 
Okusama's  house  was  too  beautiful  to  leave,  and  she  would 
stay  with  me  always  —  yes,  she  would!  Only  the  sight  of  the 
lighted  lantern,  bobbing  on  a  stick  twice  as  long  as  herself, 
persuaded  her  to  return  to  her  own  home  in  the  servants' 
quarters.  I  stood  on  the  step,  the  same  step  where  I  had  set 
the  fireflies  free  one  warm  night  last  summer,  and  watched 
the  little  people  scatter  over  the  lawns,  and  disappear  into  the 
dark  shrubberies,  their  round,  red  lights  dancing  and  shifting 
as  they  went,  just  as  if  my  fireflies  had  come  back,  on  red 
wings  this  time,  to  light  my  little  friends  to  bed. 


72  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

From   Far  Away 

From  far  away  we  come  to  you. 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
To  tell  of  great  tidings,  strange  and  true. 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 
From  far  away  we  come  to  you, 

To  tell  of  great  tidings,  strange  and  true. 

For  as  we  wandered  far  and  wide, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
What  hap  do  you  deem  there  should  us  betide? 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

Under  a  bent  when  the  night  was  deep, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 

There  lay  three  shepherds,  tending  their  sheep. 
Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

"  O  ye  shepherds,  what  have  ye  seen, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
To  stay  your  sorrow  and  heal  your  teen  ?  " 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

"  In  an  ox  stall  this  night  we  saw, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
A  Babe  and  a  maid  without  a  flaw. 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

"  There  was  an  old  man  there  beside ; 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 


LORDINGS,   LISTEN  TO   OUR   LAY  73 

His  hair  was  white,  and  his  hood  was  wide. 
Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

"  And  as  we  gazed  this  thing  upon, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
Those  twain  knelt  down  to  the  little  one. 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

"And  a  marvellous  song  we  straight  did  hear, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 

That  slew  our  sorrow  and  healed  our  care." 
Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 

News  of  a  fair  and  a  marvellous  thing, 

The  snow  in  the  street,  and  the  wind  on  the  door, 
Nowell,  Nowell,  Nowell,  we  sing. 

Minstrels  and  maids,  stand  forth  on  the  floor. 
From  far  away  we  come  to  you, 

To  tell  of  great  tidings,  strange  and  true. 

Lordings,  listen  to  our  Lay 

Lordings,  listen  to  our  lay  — 
We  have  come  from  far  away 

To  seek  Christmas ; 
In  this  mansion  we  are  told 
He  his  yearly  feast  doth  hold: 

'Tis  to-day! 
May  joy  come  from  God  above, 
To  all  those  who  Christmas  love. 


74  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Where  the  Christmas  Toys  Come  From 

Almost  all  the  wooden  toys  come  from  Germany,  where 
peasants  in  the  mountains  of  the  Tyrol  and  Bavaria  still 
make  them  by  hand.  A  herd-boy  on  the  hillside  will  see 
that  his  cattle  are  safely  feeding  in  a  narrow  valley  which 
they  cannot  leave  without  passing  him,  and  then  he  will  sit 
on  the  grass  or  on  a  rock  and  whittle  and  whistle  or  jodel 
as  the  soft  wood  shapes  itself  in  his  fingers,  through  a  long 
summer  day.  And  during  the  winter,  while  the  snow  lies 
deep  on  the  mountain  paths,  entire  families  give  their  time 
to  making  Noah's  arks,  toy  villages  with  stiff  little  green 
trees,  toy  furniture,  carved  figures  of  all  kinds.  Anything 
which  a  man's  knife  can  make  from  poplar  or  plane  wood 
is  carved  during  the  long  weeks  when  outdoor  work  is 
impossible.  At  one  time  whole  German  villages  used  to 
work  in  their  own  homes  on  cheap  wooden  toys  of  all 
kinds.  Nowadays,  since  the  invention  of  the  machines  by 
which  the  simpler  forms  are  made,  most  of  the  toy  trades 
have  been  swept  into  the  factories  of  German  cities. 

Toy  reins,  such  as  you  see  with  tinkling  sleigh-bells  on 
them,  may  be  woven  elsewhere  in  New  England,  but  it  is 
fairly  certain  that  the  bells  at  least  were  made  in  Connecti- 
cut, where  the  industry  is  a  very  old  one,  and  where  most 
of  the  sleigh-bells  in  the  country  have  been  made,  as  well 
as  cow-bells  and  the  tiny  tinkler  on  the  tea-table.  And,  natu- 
rally, the  state  in  which  are  so  many  clock  factories  produces 
those  toys  which  are  made  to  go  by  a  winding  key. 


WHERE   THE   CHRISTMAS   TOYS    COME   FROM  75 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  tin  trumpets,  and  other  toy 
musical  instruments  which  used  to  be  made  in  France  and 
Germany,  are  now  made  in  this  country,  mainly  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York.  It  is  fascinating  to  watch  the  mak- 
ing of  them  by  machinery.  Pull  a  handle  here !  Click ! 
down  comes  a  frame  and  a  long  sheet  of  metal  is  cut  into 
pieces  of  the  exact  shape  wanted.  See !  the  frame  on  which 
the  metal  rested  is  a  moving  belt  bringing  a  fresh  sheet  of 
metal  under  the  stamps  and  at  the  same  time  carrying  the 
cut  pieces  forward  over  a  row  of  steel  cones  where  a  set  of 
clamps  like  steel  jaws  catches  each  separate  bit.  The 
clamps  close  once,  nip !  open,  and  each  cone  pushes  forward 
with  a  jerk  into  another  which  with  one  motion  adds  a 
mouthpiece.  What  passes  on  now  is  a  bent  tube  which 
needs  only  a  touch  of  solder  to  keep  it  closed,  a  few  rings 
of  paint  to  make  it  gay,  and  perhaps  a  curved  handle,  to  be 
a  very  presentable  toy  trumpet. 

Drums  are  almost  all  made  in  Massachusetts ;  marbles, 
the  best  of  them,  come  from  Saxony;  the  old-fashioned 
kinds  of  music-boxes,  some  of  them  very  elaborate  and 
beautiful,  still  come  from  Switzerland.  Glass  ornaments 
for  Christmas  trees  are  made  in  Germany;  many  of  the 
tinsel  and  cut-paper  ornaments  also  come  from  Niiremburg 
and  other  German  cities  which  are  the  great  toy  markets  of 
the  world.  In  one  French  village  near  Paris  almost  all  the 
bone  dominoes  have  been  made  for  years ;  another  section 
of  France  turns  out  nearly  all  the  bone  chessmen  —  such 
figures  as    Alice    found    in  the   Looking-Glass  country;     and 


76  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

a  quantity  of  the  furry  rabbits,  silky-haired  dogs,  and  woolly 
lambs  on  green-painted  bellows  which  bleat  ba-a-a,  have  been 
made  by  one  Parisian  family  for  many  years.  The  old 
proprietor,  his  sons  and  daughters  and  even  grandchildren, 
have  lived  and  worked  together  at  the  very  top  of  an  old 
house  in  one  of  the  side  streets  of  the  city,  from  a  time 
beyond  the  memory  of  all  but  few. 

As  for  dolls  —  the  making  of  a  Christmas  doll — that  is 
another  story. 

The  Making  of  a  Christmas  Doll 

Does  it  seem  to  you  that  it  would  be  a  delightful 
business  to  make  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dolls  every  year  ? 
H'm !  Does  this  huge  kettle  of  bad-smelling  mush  make 
you  think  of  the  dainty,  smiling  dolls  in  the  toy-shop  win- 
dow ?  Dolly  is  made,  though  you  would  never  guess  it, 
of  chopped  up  bits  of  old  kid  gloves  and  pieces  of  card- 
board boiled  to  a  pulp  in  a  gum  made  from  the  horns 
of  goats.  And  here  is  a  man  shovelling  sawdust  into  a 
kettle  half  full  of  boiling  water.  Now  he  is  turning  the 
mass  into  a  big  mixing  trough,  adding  one  shovelful  after 
another  of  the  gluey  mush.  The  machinery  creaks  and 
turns  and  cuts  and  slaps  as  this  mixture  is  kneaded  into 
a  composition  pulp.  Now  he  is  carrying  some  of  it  in  a 
hod,  for  all  the  world  like  sticky  mortar,  to  a  weighing 
table !  Sweep !  it  is  spread  out  in  an  even  thickness.  Clip ! 
down   come  the  knives    which   part  it   into  the  right  quanti- 


THE   MAKING  OF   A   CHRISTMAS   DOLL  77 

ties,  and  it  is  swiftly  pressed  and  moulded  to  the  shape 
of  a  body,  an  arm,  or  a  leg.  In  one  factory  alone  the 
parts  of  as  many  as  forty  thousand  dolls  are  thus  made 
in  one  day,  and  the  ugly,  greenish  shapes  set  aside  to 
harden.  Another  day  they  pass  quickly  under  the  brushes 
in  the  painters'  hands  after  which  they  have  the  more  familiar 
rosy  pink  color,  and  dolly  can  now  be  put  together  except 
for  the  head. 

Of  these  dolls  the  heads  are  to  be  of  porcelain.  Once 
for  all,  long  ago,  some  artist  made  the  model  of  which 
many  duplicate  moulds  stand  ready.  Into  these  moulds 
liquid  porcelain  clay  is  poured;  before  it  hardens  the 
openings  for  the  eyes  are  cut  and  tiny  holes  made  by 
which  it  can  be  joined  to  a  body.  After  the  moulds  are 
opened,  as  the  rows  and  rows  of  little  heads  stand  in  metal 
trays,  a  painter  comes  by,  covers  them  with  a  glaze-wash, 
tints  the  cheeks  and  outlines  the  brows  and  lashes.  Now 
into  the  oven  goes  the  tray  for  hours  of  slow  baking. 
But  even  with  the  head  sewed  on  we  have  but  a  sad-look- 
ing dolly,  both  blind  and  bald. 

If  all  goes  well,  the  eyes  and  the  wig  come  next.  The 
eyes  are  not  made  in  this  factory  at  all.  They  come  from 
Germany,  and  it  would  probably  give  you  a  queer,  scared 
feeling  to  see  the  making  of  them.  Look  into  this  long, 
dark  room,  and  when  your  eyes  are  a  little  used  to  the 
strange  shadowiness,  you  will  see  that  down  its  sides  there 
are  rows  of  tables,  before  each  of  which  sits  a  woman 
with    a   blue-flame    gas     lamp     in     front    of    her.      At   little 


78  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

distances  are  retorts  of  glowing  molten  glass,  and  each 
woman  dips  her  short  glass  tube  into  the  melted  glass, 
and,  keeping  it  soft  by  the  help  of  that  weird  blue  flame  of 
the  blowpipe  jet,  blows  a  little  oblong  globe  which  she 
colors  white  for  the  eyeball,  and  then  upon  it  paints  a 
pupil  of  blue,  brown,  or  black,  as  the  doll-makers  may 
have  ordered.  The  musical  click  which  you  hear  all  the 
time  is  the  sharp  stroke  which  breaks  the  finished  and 
cooled  eye  from  the  glass  rod,  letting  it  drop  into  a  box 
lined  with  cotton  by  her  side.  This  boy  coming  out  has 
been  collecting  them,  and  it  makes  us  shiver  to  see  those 
hundreds  of  eyes  rolling  uncannily  at  us  from  the  bottom 
of  his  basket.     Come  away ! 

A  wig  for  an  inexpensive  doll  is  an  easy  matter;  the 
chosen  strands  of  hair  are  laid  along  a  double  thread,  which 
passes  below  one  strand  and  above  the  next.  This  thread 
makes  the  "  part,"  and  under  it  is  stuck  a  bit  of  paste- 
board by  which  the  wig  is  fastened  on.  A  quick-fingered 
French  woman  can  turn  out  over  a  hundred  dozen  such 
wigs  in  a  day.     And  with  the  wig  dolly  is  made  at  last. 

Her  clothes,  of  course,  are  a  separate  matter,  just  as 
yours  are ;  there  are  dolls'  shoemakers,  and  dolls'  dress- 
makers, and  the  elaborate  completeness  of  dolly's  outfit 
depends  only  upon  the  price  one  is  willing  to  pay. 


IRINA'S   DAY  ON  THE  ESTATES  79 

Irina's  Day  on  the  Estates 

Irina  is  a  Russian  who  answers  promptly  if  you  ask 
her  what  Christmas  she  remembers  best,  "  The  one  we 
spent  on  the  estates."  But  that  may  be  because  it  was 
so  unusual  to  be  there  at  all  in  the  winter.  Christmas 
Eve  is  the  great  time  in  Russia,  but  Santa  Claus  does 
not  come  until  evening  and  the  day  before  Christmas 
being  a  fast-day  is  usually  somewhat  depressing. 

Old  Mashinka,  who  comes  in  to  open  the  heavy,  outer 
shutters,  usually  has  some  lively  gossip  to  tell  while  she 
lets  in  the  light.  Perhaps  wolves  slipped  into  the  court- 
yard in  the  night  and  were  fighting  with  the  watch-dogs ; 
perhaps  the  snow  has  fallen  again  and  is  so  deep  that  Ivan 
and  the  stablemen  have  been  out  since  daybreak  cutting 
new  paths  to  the  kitchens,  stables,  and  farm  buildings,  and 
breaking  out  the  roads.  Or  perhaps  Dmitri,  who  moved 
yesterday  into  a  new  house,  took  with  him  a  cock  and 
hen,  and  this  morning  the  cock  refused  to  crow  at  dawn 
so  that  all  the  family  are  sure  that  evil  fortune  will  enter 
the  house  with  the  new  year.  But  on  this  morning  she 
has  no  news  to  tell ;  she  moves  silently  and  slowly,  for  it 
is  a  fast-day. 

Even  Irina,  who  is  always  ready  to  run  and  jump, 
feels  oppressed  by  the  still,  silent  house.  The  dining 
room  is  desolate  with  its  breakfastless  table,  usually  so 
cosy  with  its  steaming  samovar.  As  a  rule  they  are  at 
this  time  in  St.   Petersburg   where,   though   Irina   stays    qui- 


80  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

etly  all  day  in  an  upper  room,  except  when  attending  church 
services,  she  can  at  least  look  out  upon  all  the  coming  and 
going  on  the  river  and  the  Nevski  Prospect.  But  this  year 
Andrei  the  steward  is  raising  questions  about  the  plans 
and  locations  for  new  stables  and  barns,  so  they  are  here 
where  everything  is  depressingly  still  and  silent,  and  up- 
stairs her  father  and  mother  are  praying  in  their  rooms. 
So  she  puts  on  fur-lined  boots,  a  long  fur  coat  with  deep 
collar,  and  a  fur  cap  which  comes  well  down  over  the  fore- 
head, and  once  outside  the  house  finds  herself  in  the  thick 
forest.  Further  on  she  comes  to  a  frozen  river,  and  fast- 
days  and  solemn  services  are  all  forgotten,  for  there  are 
her  two  fur-wrapped  brothers  busy  with  a  little  sledge. 
The  red  scarves  of  the  boys  are  taken  for  guiding  reins, 
and  far  along  the  ice  for  two  hours  or  more  she  drives 
her  team.  They  have  passed  beyond  the  forest  and  out 
upon  the  steppes,  where  for  miles  ahead  no  trees  are  to  be 
seen  except  where  willows  mark  the  curve  of  the  river,  or 
a  few  stunted  saplings  show  black  against  the  snow.  On 
one  side  is  a  long,  low  sheepfold  belonging  to  Irina's  father, 
and  out  comes  the  shepherd  with  a  clamor  of  dogs.  He 
has  no  chairs,  so  he  throws  down  three  heaps  of  clean  straw 
for  the  children  to  sit  on  ;  and  he,  too,  forgets  that  it  is  a 
fast-day  as  he  reaches  cakes  of  dark  brown  bread  from  a 
shelf  below  the  tiny  square  window,  and  pours  for  them 
cups  of  goats'  milk.  Black  crust  and  all  —  it  goes  quickly, 
and  then  they  rest  and  stroke  the  half-tamed  sheep  that 
come  to  nibble  the  straw  while  the  shepherd  tells  the  children 


IRINA'S   DAY  ON  THE  ESTATES  81 

stories.  He  cannot  read,  to  be  sure,  but  when  he  was  a 
boy  his  old  grandmother  told  them  to  him.  Perhaps, 
because  it  is  the  Christmas  season,  he  tells  them  of 
the  old  woman  whom  the  Russians  call  Babouscka  and 
the  Italians  Befana.  Irina's  favorite  is  one  that  would 
remind  you  of  Cinderella,  although  the  fairy  godmother 
is  much  more  like  an  old  witch ;  and  as  the  children  start 
off  for  home  they  wonder  a  little  fearfully  if  this  forest 
is  not  very  like  the  one  in  the  shepherd's  story. 

On  arriving  home  they  confess  their  sins  —  only  the 
little  matter  of  the  rye  bread  is  really  forgotten.  Every- 
body is  busy ;  the  cook  is  getting  the  supper,  and  father 
in  the  drawing-room  has  the  door  locked.  Some  one  has 
said  there  will  be  no  Christmas  tree,  for  there  are  no  shops 
here;  but  why  was  mother  away  for  four  days,  and  why 
did  that  pedler  who  came  by  a  few  days  ago  stay  so  long? 
Irina  finds  a  book,  curls  up  on  a  rug,  and  tries  to  read, 
but  she  does  not  understand  KrylofY's  "  Fables "  very  well ; 
the  day  out-doors  has  made  her  drowsy  and  she  does  not 
quite  know  what  becomes  of  the  time  until  her  brothers 
shake  her  a  little,  the  clock  rings  out  "  Cuckoo  "  six  times, 
and  then  open  comes  the  door.  There  is  a  Christmas  tree 
after  all,  a  tall  one  with  a  shining  star  at  the  top.  Hun- 
dreds of  burning  candles  light  it  up,  and  tiny  wax  figures 
dance  among  hanging  oranges.  At  the  foot  of  the  tree 
lie  four  or  five  heaps  of  parcels,  —  ah,  then,  mother  was 
shopping;  no  one  is  forgotten  and  every  one  is  merry. 
Then    comes    Pavel   to    say  that   supper   is    ready.     But   the 


82  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

white  cloth  looks  very  different  from  usual ;  it  is  not  laid 
smoothly  at  all.  Underneath  it  has  been  spread  a  layer 
of  hay,  and  each  one  as  he  sits  down  pulls  out  a  straw. 
Irina  gives  a  cry  of  joy:  her  piece  is  quite  complete,  with 
its  yellow,  dried  flower  —  which  shows  that  she  will  be 
lucky  all  the  next  year. 

There  is  no  meat  at  this  Christmas  Eve  supper,  only  fish 
dishes  and  the  special  Kostya,  or  puddings  which  belong  to 
the  season  very  much  as  do  mince  pie  and  plum  pudding  in 
England.  Of  these  puddings  there  are  two  kinds,  —  the  white 
Kostya,  made  of  rice,  almonds,  and  raisins,  and  the  black  Kostya, 
made  of  honey,  barley,  and  walnuts. 

During  supper  the  children  from  the  village  school  which 
Irina's  mother  has  started  come  and  sing  carols  outside  the 
window  until  Pavel  with  a  handful  of  coins  tells  them  to  be  off. 
Other  young  villagers  follow  to  acknowledge  their  gifts  with 
more  singing.  Lastly  comes  the  church  choir,  who  are  invited 
in  to  supper  after  Irina  and  her  brothers  have  returned  to  the 
tree  and  their  new  toys.  For  each  there  is  a  gift  and  from 
each  a  torrent  of  good  wishes. 

This  practice  of  carol  singing  is  probably  in  its  origin  akin 
to  the  religious  processions  which  one  may  see  on  any  holy 
day  in  all  the  villages  of  Greece,  the  Balkan  provinces,  and  up 
through  Russia,  —  wherever,  in  fact,  the  Greek  church  has  di- 
verted into  the  service  of  religion  the  old  customs  of  the  peo- 
ple. For  centuries  back  and  probably  long  before  the  Christian 
era,  it  was  the  practice  of  the  young  people  here  and  elsewhere 
to  gather  into  bands  and  go  about  the  country  roads  at  this 


A  VISIT   FROM   ST.   NICHOLAS  83 

time  of  year  singing  hymns  which  were  at  first,  no  doubt,  songs 
of  rejoicing  that  the  shortest  days  were  over  and  the  sun  re- 
turning to  the  world  again.  Nowadays  the  songs  are  chants 
or  carols,  and  the  village  boys  are  proud  to  carry  in  religious 
processions  pictures  of  the  saints  and  the  banners  of  the  church. 

A    Visit    from    St.    Nicholas 

'Twas  the  night  before  Christmas,  when  all  through  the  house 

Not  a  creature  was  stirring,  not  even  a  mouse; 

The  stockings  were  hung  by  the  chimney  with  care, 

In  hopes  that  St.  Nicholas  soon  would  be  there; 

The  children  were  nestled  all  snug  in  their  beds, 

While  visions  of  sugar-plums  danced  in  their  heads ; 

And  mamma  in  her  kerchief,  and  I  in  my  cap, 

Had  just  settled  our  brains  for  a  long  winter's  nap  — 

When  out  on  the  lawn  there  arose  such  a  clatter, 

I  sprang  from  my  bed  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

Away  to  the  window  I  flew  like  a  flash, 

Tore  open  the  shutters  and  threw  up  the  sash. 

The  moon  on  the  breast  of  the  new-fallen  snow 

Gave  a  lustre  of  midday  to  objects  below; 

When  what  to  my  wondering  eyes  should  appear, 

But  a  miniature  sleigh  and  eight  tiny  reindeer, 

With  a  little  old  driver  so  lively  and  quick 

I  knew  in  a  moment  it  must  be  St.  Nick ! 

More  rapid  than  eagles  his  coursers  they  came, 

And  he  whistled  and  shouted,  and  called  them  by  name: 


84  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

"  Now,  Dasher !    now,  Dancer !  now,  Prancer  and  Vixen ! 

On,  Comet !    on,  Cupid !    on,  Donder  and  Blitzen ! 

To  the  top  of  the  porch,  to  the  top  of  the  wall ! 

Now,  dash  away,  dash  away,  dash  away  all ! " 

As  dry  leaves  that  before  the  wild  hurricane  fly, 

When  they  meet  with  an  obstacle,  mount  to  the  sky, 

So  up  to  the  house-top  the  coursers  they  flew, 

With  the  sleigh  full  of  toys  —  and  St.  Nicholas,  too. 

And  then  in  a  twinkling  I  heard  on  the  roof, 

The  prancing  and  pawing  of  each  little  hoof. 

As  I  drew  in  my  head,  and  turning  around, 

Down  the  chimney  St.  Nicholas  came  with  a  bound. 

He  was  dressed  all  in  fur  from  his  head  to  his  foot, 

And  his  clothes  were  all  tarnished  with  ashes  and  soot; 

A  bundle  of  toys  he  had  flung  on  his  back, 

And  he  looked  like  a  pedler  just  opening  his  pack. 

His  eyes,  how  they  twinkled !  his  dimples,  how  merry ! 

His  cheeks  were  like  roses,  his  nose  like  a  cherry; 

His  droll  little  mouth  was  drawn  up  like  a  bow, 

And  the  beard  on  his  chin  was  as  white  as  the  snow. 

The  stump  of  a  pipe  he  held  tight  in  his  teeth, 

And  the  smoke  it  encircled  his  head  like  a  wreath. 

He  had  a  broad  face  and  a  little  round  belly 

That  shook,  when  he  laughed,  like  a  bowl  full  of  jelly. 

He  was  chubby  and  plump  —  a  right  jolly  old  elf; 

And  I  laughed  when  I  saw  him,  in  spite  of  myself. 

A  wink  of  his  eye  and  a  twist  of  his  head 

Soon  gave  me  to  know  I  had  nothing  to  dread. 


THE   CRATCHITS'    CHRISTMAS   DINNER  85 

He  spoke  not  a  word,  but  went  straight  to  his  work, 
And  filled  all  the  stockings ;    then  turned  with  a  jerk, 
And  laying  his  finger  aside  of  his  nose, 
And  giving  a  nod,  up  the  chimney  he  rose. 
He  sprang  in  his  sleigh,  to  his  team  gave  a  whistle, 
And  away  they  all  flew  like  the  down  of  a  thistle; 
But  I  heard  him  exclaim,  ere  he  drove  out  of  sight: 
"  Happy  Christmas  to  all,  and  to  all  a  good-night ! " 

The  Cratchits'  Christmas  Dinner 

You  might  have  thought  a  goose  the  rarest  of  all  birds ; 
a  feathered  phenomenon,  to  which  a  black  swan  was  a  matter 
of  course ;  and  in  truth,  it  was  something  like  it  in  that  house. 
Mrs.  Cratchit  made  the  gravy  (ready  beforehand  in  a  little 
saucepan)  hissing  hot;  Master  Peter  mashed  the  potatoes  with 
incredible  vigor ;  Miss  Belinda  sweetened  up  the  apple  sauce ; 
Martha  dusted  the  hot  plates ;  Bob  took  Tiny  Tim  beside 
him  in  a  tiny  corner  at  the  table;  the  two  young  Cratchits 
set  chairs  for  everybody,  not  forgetting  themselves,  and  mount- 
ing guard  upon  their  posts,  crammed  spoons  into  their  mouths, 
lest  they  should  shriek  for  goose  before  their  turn  came  to  be 
helped.  At  last  the  dishes  were  set  on,  and  grace  was  said. 
It  was  succeeded  by  a  breathless  pause,  as  Mrs.  Cratchit, 
looking  slowly  all  along  the  carving  knife,  prepared  to  plunge 
it  in  the  breast ;  but  when  she  did,  and  when  the  long-expected 
gush  of  stuffing  issued  forth,  one  murmur  of  delight  arose  all 
around  the  board,   and  even  Tiny  Tim,   excited  by  the  two 


& 


86  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

young  Cratchits,  beat  on  the  table  with  the  handle  of  his 
knife,  and  feebly  cried  Hurrah ! 

There  never  was  such  a  goose.  Bob  said  he  didn't  believe 
there  ever  was  such  a  goose  cooked.  Its  tenderness  and 
flavor,  size  and  cheapness,  were  the  themes  of  universal  admira- 
tion. Eked  out  by  the  apple  sauce  and  mashed  potatoes,  it 
was  a  sufficient  dinner  for  the  whole  family;  indeed,  as  Mrs. 
Cratchit  said  with  great  delight  (surveying  one  small  atom 
of  a  bone  on  the  dish),  they  hadn't  ate  it  all  at  last!  Yet 
every  one  had  had  enough,  and  the  youngest  Cratchits  in 
particular  were  steeped  in  sage  and  onion  to  the  eyebrows ! 
But  now,  the  plates  being  changed  by  Miss  Belinda,  Mrs. 
Cratchit  left  the  room  alone  —  too  nervous  to  bear  witnesses 
— to  take  the  pudding  up  and  bring  it  in. 

Suppose  it  should  not  be  done  enough !  Suppose  it  should 
break  in  turning  out!  Suppose  somebody  should  have  got 
over  the  wall  of  the  back  yard,  and  stolen  it,  while  they  were 
merry  with  the  goose;  a  supposition  at  which  the  two  young 
Cratchits  became  livid !     All  sorts  of  horrors  were  supposed. 

Hallo !  A  great  deal  of  steam !  The  pudding  was  out 
of  the  copper.  A  smell  like  a  washing-day!  That  was  the 
cloth.  A  smell  like  an  eating-house  and  a  pastry  cook's  next 
door  to  each  other,  with  a  laundress  next  door  to  that !  That 
was  the  pudding.  In  half  a  minute  Mrs.  Cratchit  entered, 
flushed,  but  smiling  proudly,  with  the  pudding  like  a  speckled 
cannon-ball,  so  hard  and  firm,  blazing  in  half  of  half-a-quartern 
of  ignited  brandy,  and  bedight  with  Christmas  holly  stuck  into 
the  top. 


THE   CRATCHITS'    CHRISTMAS   DINNER  87 

Oh,  a  wonderful  pudding !  Bob  Cratchit  said,  and  calmly, 
too,  that  he  regarded  it  as  the  greatest  success  achieved  by- 
Mrs.  Cratchit  since  their  marriage.  Mrs.  Cratchit  said  that 
now  the  weight  was  off  her  mind  she  would  confess  she  had 
had  her  doubts  about  the  quantity  of  flour.  Everybody  had 
something  to  say  about  it,  but  nobody  said  or  thought  it  was 
at  all  a  small  pudding  for  so  large  a  family.  It  would  have 
been  flat  heresy  to  do  so.  Any  Cratchit  would  have  blushed 
to  hint  at  such  a  thing.  At  last  the  dinner  was  all  done, 
the  cloth  was  cleared,  the  hearth  swept,  and  the  fire  made  up. 
The  compound  in  the  jug  being  tasted  and  considered  perfect, 
apples  and  oranges  were  put  upon  the  table,  and  a  shovelful 
of  chestnuts  on  the  fire.  Then  all  the  Cratchit  family  drew 
round  the  hearth  in  what  Bob  Cratchit  called  a  circle,  mean- 
ing half  a  one ;  and  at  Bob  Cratchit's  elbow  stood  the  family 
display  of  glass  —  two  tumblers  and  a  custard-cup  without  a 
handle. 

These  held  the  hot  stuff  from  the  jug,  however,  as  well 
as  golden  goblets  would  have  done;  and  Bob  served  it  out 
with  beaming  looks,  while  the  chestnuts  on  the  fire  sputtered 
and  cracked  noisily.     Then  Bob  proposed: 

"  A  merry  Christmas  to  all,  my  dears.     God  bless  us ! " 

Which  all  the  family  reechoed. 

"  God  bless  us  every  one ! "  said  Tiny  Tim  the  last  of  all. 


88  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

After  the  Christmas  Dinner 

When  dinner  had  had  time  to  settle  and  all  the  kitchen 
work  was  done,  Father  took  his  seat  at  the  end  of  the  long 
table,  with  all  the  household  gathered  about,  the  servants  in- 
cluded and  the  baby  without  fail,  and  read  the  story  of  The 
Child :  "  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,"  while  Mother 
hushed  the  baby.  Then  we  sang  together  "  A  Child  is  Born 
in  Bethlehem,"  which  was  the  simplest  of  our  hymns,  and 
also  the  one  we  children  loved  best,  for  it  told  of  how  in 
heaven  we  were  to  walk  to  church 

"  On  sky-blue  carpets,  star-bedeckt," 

which  was  a  great  comfort.  Children  love  beautiful  things, 
and  we  had  few  of  them.  The  great  and  precious  treasure  in 
our  house  was  the  rag  carpet  in  the  spare  room,  which  we  were 
allowed  to  enter  only  on  festive  occasions  such  as  Christmas. 
It  had  an  orange  streak  in  it  which  I  can  see  to  this  day. 
Whenever  I  come  across  one  that  even  remotely  suggests  it, 
it  gives  me  yet  a  kind  of  solemn  feeling.  We  had  no  piano, 
—  that  was  a  luxury  in  those  days,  —  and  Father  was  not  a 
singer,  but  he  led  on  bravely  with  his  tremulous  bass  and  we 
all  joined  in,  Ane  the  cook  and  Maria  the  housemaid  furtively 
wiping  their  eyes  with  their  aprons,  for  they  were  good  and 
pious  folk  and  this  was  their  Christmas  service.  So  we  sang 
the  ten  verses  to  end,  with  their  refrain  "  Hallelujah !  halle- 
lujah!" that  always  seemed  to  me  to  open  the  very  gates  of 
Yule. 


HANG  UP  THE   BABY'S   STOCKING  89 

And  it  did,  literally ;  for  when  the  last  hallelujah  died  away, 
the  door  of  the  spare  room  was  flung  wide  and  there  stood  the 
Christmas  tree,  all  shining  lights,  and  the  baby  was  borne  in, 
wide-eyed,  to  be  the  first,  as  was  proper ;  for  was  not  this  The 
Child's  holiday?  Unconsciously  we  all  gave  way  to  those  who 
were  nearest  Him,  who  had  most  recently  come  from  His  pres- 
ence, and  were  therefore  in  closest  touch  with  the  spirit  of  the 
holiday.  So,  when  we  joined  hands  and  danced  around  the 
tree,  Father  held  the  baby,  and  we  laughed  and  were  happy 
as  the  little  one  crowed  his  joy  and  stretched  the  tiny  arms 
toward  the  light. 

Hang  up  the  Baby's  Stocking 

Hang  up  the  baby's  stocking : 

Be  sure  you  don't  forget; 
The  dear  little  dimpled  darling ! 

She  ne'er  saw  Christmas  yet; 
But  I've  told  her  all  about  it, 

And  she  opened  her  big  blue  eyes; 
And  I'm  sure  she  understood  it  — 

She  looked  so  funny  and  wise. 

Dear!  what  a  tiny  stocking! 

It  doesn't  take  much  to  hold 
Such  little  pink  toes  as  baby's 

Away  from  the  frost  and  cold; 
But  then  for  the  baby's  Christmas 

It  will  never  do  at  all ; 


go  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Why,  Santa  wouldn't  be  looking 
For  anything  half  so  small. 

I  know  what  will  do  for  the  baby. 

I've  thought  of  the  very  best  plan: 
I'll  borrow  a  stocking  of  grandma, 

The  longest  that  ever   I  can; 
And  you'll  hang  it  by  mine,  dear  mother, 

Right  here  in  the  corner,  so ! 
And  write  a  letter  to  Santa, 

And  fasten  it  on  the  toe. 

Write,  "This  is  the    baby's  stocking 

That  hangs  in  the  corner  here; 
You  never  have  seen  her,  Santa, 

For  she  only  came  this  year; 
But  she's  just  the  blessedest  baby! 

And  now  before  you  go, 
Just  cram  her  stocking  with  goodies, 

From  the  top  clean  down  to  the  toe." 

A  German  Christmas 

In  Germany  a  little  girl  begins  to  think  about  Christmas 
almost  as  soon  as  she  gets  back  from  a  summer  holiday,  for  it 
is  still  very  much  the  custom  there  to  make  something  your- 
self for  those  you  love  best,  and  German  girls  learn  while  they 
are  still  little  to  embroider  beautifully  all  kinds  of  articles  for 
household  use, —  a  monogram  on  a  fine  handkerchief,  or  spray 


A   GERMAN   CHRISTMAS  91 

of  flowers  on  a  bit  of  linen  to  wear  at  the  neck.  An  older  girl 
makes  such  things  as  a  canvas  travellers-case,  or  a  set  of  shoe- 
bags,  embroiders  a  sofa-cushion  or  knits  a  silk  necktie. 
Mothers  and  aunts  are  more  likely  to  make  soberly  useful  gifts 
of  stockings,  underclothing,  dresses ;  nothing  is  thought  out-of- 
place.  But  every  one  must  give  to  every  one  else.  That  is  law. 
And  every  one  aims  to  keep  as  a  secret  what  she  is  making ;  it 
must  be  hidden  at  least  from  the  one  for  whom  it  is  intended, 
so  there  is  quite  an  air  of  "  I  know  something  nice,  but  I  can- 
not tell  it,"  about  a  German  household  through  all  the  weeks 
before  the  holiday. 

About  a  fortnight  before  Christmas  the  fair  begins  which 
Mrs.  Sidgwick  tells  us  is  to  be  seen  "  in  any  one  of  the  old  Ger- 
man cities  in  the  hill  country,  when  the  streets  and  the  open 
places  are  covered  with  crisp  clean  snow,  and  the  mountains  are 
white  with  it,  and  the  moon  shines  on  the  ancient  houses,  and 
the  tinkle  of  sledge  bells  reaches  you  when  you  escape  from 
the  din  of  the  market,  and  look  down  at  the  bustle  of  it  from 
some  silent  place,  a  high  window,  perhaps,  or  the  high  empty  steps 
leading  into  the  cathedral.  The  air  is  cold  and  still,  and  heavy 
with  the  scent  of  the  Christmas  trees  brought  from  the  forest 
for  the  pleasure  of  the  children.  Day  by  day  you  see  the  rows 
of  them  growing  thinner,  and  if  you  go  to  the  market  on  Christ- 
mas Eve  itself  you  will  find  only  a  few  trees  left  out  in  the 
cold.  The  market  is  empty,  the  peasants  are  harnessing  their 
horses  or  their  oxen,  the  women  are  packing  up  their  unsold 
goods.  In  every  home  in  the  city  one  of  the  trees  that  scented 
the  open  air  about  a  week  ago  is  shining  now  with  lights  and 


92  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

little  gilded  nuts  and  apples,  and  is  helping  to  make  that  Christ- 
mas smell,  all  compact  of  the  pine  forest,  wax  candles,  cakes, 
and  painted  toys,  you  must  associate  so  long  as  you  live  with 
Christmas  in  Germany." 

We  have  Christmas  trees  in  plenty,  but  to  the  German 
mind  we  have  them  all  wrong.  In  the  first  place,  their  trees  are 
small,  and  every  one,  from  the  Emperor  down  to  the  poorest  la- 
borer, has  a  tree.  But  he  has  it  at  home,  on  Christmas  Eve  if 
he  can,  less  often  on  Christmas  Day,  and  only  sometimes  on  the 
day  after,  which  they  call  the  Second  Christmas  Day.  A  Ger- 
man family  never  invites  a  party  to  its  Christmas  tree,  only 
relatives  or  intimate  friends.  As  a  rule,  there  is  one  tree,  fixed 
on  a  small  stand  in  the  centre  of  a  large  square  table  covered 
with  a  snow-white  cloth,  and  around  the  tree  the  presents  are 
arranged,  those  for  each  person  in  a  separate  pile.  The  tree  is 
lighted  for  beauty,  and  is  decorated  with  ornaments  of  glass 
and  tinsel,  sweetmeats,  apples,  gilded  nuts,  and  a  few  very 
small  toys.  Some  of  the  sweetmeats  made  for  German  trees 
are  very  elaborate.  There  are  Kringeln,  transparent  sugar 
candies  twisted  in  figure  eights  or  circles,  so  that  they  easily 
hang  on.  There  are  sugar  candy  animals  of  every  shape  and  color; 
and  here  and  there  a  fascinating  scene  in  colored  sugar  on  a 
white  background,  a  sportsman  in  a  red  coat,  perhaps,  pointing 
his  gun  at  an  enormous  rabbit  that  sits  up  almost  touching  the 
end  of  the  gun-barrel.  The  celebrated  Lubecker  Marzipan  (a 
kind  of  almond  paste  which  you  have  tasted,  maybe,  on  bride- 
cake) imitates  all  kinds  of  fruit  and  vegetables  so  well  that  they 
can  easily  be  mistaken  for  real. 


A   GERMAN   CHRISTMAS  93 

The  trees  are  set  in  the  front  rooms  and  the  curtains 
are  drawn  up  to  give  any  passer-by  a  glimpse  of  their 
beauty.  The  family  gathers  in  the  room  behind,  sometimes 
a  carol  or  hymn  is  sung,  and  at  its  end  suddenly  the  parlor 
doors  fly  back,  showing  the  little  green  tree  all  alight  and 
the  piles  of  presents  for  every  one.  Then  comes  a  scramble 
and  search  for  one's  own  pile,  —  a  long  silence  while  parcels 
are  opened  breathlessly.  Such  a  handshaking  and  embracing 
and  thanking  as  follows ! 

In  some  families  where  there  are  several  children  and 
plenty  of  money,  each  person  may  have  a  tree  of  his  own, 
and  at  any  rate  will  have  his  own  table  covered  with  presents 
and  things  to  eat.     Of  such  a  family  the  mother  writes  :  — 

Every  time  the  three  babies  go  into  the  garden  they 
expect  to  meet  the  Christ  Child  with  His  arms  full  of  gifts. 
They  firmly  believe  that  it  is  thus  their  presents  are  brought, 
and  it  is  such  a  charming  idea  that  Christmas  would  be 
worth  celebrating  for  its  sake  alone. 

The  library  is  uninhabitable  for  several  days  before  and 
after,  as  it  is  there  that  we  have  the  trees  and  presents. 
All  down  one  side  are  the  trees,  and  the  other  three  sides 
are  lined  with  tables,  a  separate  one  for  each  person 
in  the  house.  When  trees  are  lighted,  and  stand  in  their 
radiance  shining  down  on  the  happy  faces,  I  forget  all  the 
trouble  it  has  been,  and  the  number  of  times  I  have  had 
to  run  up  and  down  stairs,  and  the  various  aches  in  head 
and  feet,  and  enjoy  myself  as  much  as  anybody.  First  the 
June    baby    is    ushered    in,    then    the   others    and    ourselves 


94  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

according  to  age,  then  the  servants,  then  come  the  head 
inspector  and  his  family,  and  other  inspectors  from  the  different 
farms,  the  mamsells,  the  bookkeepers  and  secretaries,  and  then 
all  the  children,  troops  and  troops  of  them  —  the  big  ones 
leading  the  little  ones  by  the  hand  and  carrying  the  babies 
in  their  arms,  and  the  mothers  peeping  round  the  door.  As 
many  as  can  get  in  stand  in  front  of  the  trees,  and  sing  two  or 
three  carols ;  then  they  are  given  their  presents,  and  go  off 
triumphantly,  making  room  for  the  next  batch.  My  three 
babies  sung  lustily,  too,  whether  they  happened  to  know  what 
was  being  sung  or  not.     .     .     . 

When  they  came  to  say  good  night  they  were  all  very  pale 
and  subdued.  The  April  baby  had  an  exhausted-looking 
Japanese  doll  with  her,  which  she  said  she  was  taking  to  bed, 
not  because  she  liked  him,  but  she  was  so  sorry  for  him,  he 
seemed  so  very  tired.  They  kissed  me  absently,  and  went 
away,  only  the  April  baby  glancing  at  the  trees  as  she  passed 
and  making  them   a  courtesy. 

"  Good-by,  trees,"  I  heard  her  say  ;  and  then  she  made  the 
Japanese  doll  bow  to  them,  which  he  did,  in  a  very  languid  and 
blase  fashion.  "  You'll  never  see  such  trees  again,"  she  told 
him,  giving  him  a  vindictive  shake,  "  for  you'll  be  brokened  long 
before  next  time." 

She  went  out,  but  came  back  as  though  she  had  forgotten 
something. 

"  Thank  the  Christkind  so  much,  Mummy,  won't  you,  for 
all  the  lovely  things  He  brought  us.  I  suppose  you're  writing 
to  Him  now,  isn't  you  ?  " 


CROWDED   OUT  95 

Crowded  Out 

Nobody  ain't  Christmas  shoppin' 

Fur  his  stockin', 
Nobody  ain't  cotch  no  turkey, 
Nobody  ain't  bake  no  pie. 
Nobody's  laid  nuthin'  by ; 
Santa  Claus  don't  cut  no  figger 
Fur  his  mammy's  little  nigger. 

Seems  lak  everybody's  rushin' 

An'  er  crushin' ; 
Crowdin'  shops  an'  jammin'  trolleys, 
Buyin'  shoes  an'  shirts  an'  toys 
Fur  de  white  folks'  girls  an'  boys; 
But  no  hobby-horse  ain't  rockin' 
Fur  his  little  wore-out  stockin'. 

He  ain't  quar'lin',  recollec', 

He  don't  spec 
Nuthin'  —  it's  his  not  expectin' 
Makes  his  mammy  wish  —  O  Laws  !  — 
Fur  er  nigger  Santy  Claus, 
To  tin'  jus'  er  toy  balloon 
Fur  his  mammy's  little  coon. 


96  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

An  English  "Adoration" 

Art  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  was  far  more 
closely  connected  with  the  church  than  it  is  to-day.  The  most 
beautiful  buildings  were  those  of  the  church,  and  the  art  of 
painting  was  soon  called  upon  for  their  decoration.  Books  at 
that  time  were  rare  and  costly,  and  the  stories  of  the  saints 
whose  "  holydays  "  were  times  of  festivity  for  the  people,  were 
mostly  handed  down  by  word  of  mouth,  and  often  with 
a  good  deal  of  confusion  of  times  and  people.  And  natur- 
ally, when  the  rich  men  of  1300  called  in  a  workman  to 
decorate  a  church  or  to  paint  a  panel  which  could  be  moved 
from  one  building  to  another,  they  liked  to  see  on  their 
walls  pictures  of  their  favorite  saints  and  heroes,  pictures 
which  reminded  them  of  the  stories  they  could  not  read.  It 
made  no  difference  to  them  if  saint  and  hero  and  king  lived 
hundreds  of  years  apart. 

There  is  one  such  picture,  one  of  the  oldest  in  Eng- 
land, so  old  that  no  one  knows  who  painted  it,  which  is 
interesting  because  it  is  so  easy  to  see  that  the  king  who 
ordered  it  painted  was  thinking  of  the  old  Christmas  story 
of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  who  were  always  thought 
of  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  being  kings.  The  picture  is 
painted  on  two  wooden  panels,  joined  with  hinges  so  that 
it  can  be  closed,  and  is  in  bright  colors  against  a  back- 
ground of   gold. 

The  English  king  who  probably  ordered  it  to  celebrate 
his    coronation   was     Richard    II.  of    England,    son    of    the 


r 


AN  ENGLISH   "ADORATION"  97 

famous  Black  Prince.  One  likes  to  think  that  although  he 
thought  of  himself  as  one  of  a  long  line  of  kings  ruling 
by  divine  right,  whom  it  was  natural  to  see  surrounded  by 
persons  royal  and  divine,  yet  he  wished  to  be  painted  not 
in  the  act  of  receiving  but  of  giving  homage.  After  all,  in 
spite  of  the  king's  crown  and  the  robe  of  state,  too  big  for  a 
child's  figure,  he  was  only  a  boy  barely  eleven,  and  whatever 
he  became  later  here  he  is  shown  offering  his  kingdom  to  the 
Holy  Child  in  His  Mother's  arms. 

There  was  a  special  reason  for  Richard's  having  his  pic- 
ture resemble  pictures  of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi  for  the 
Day  of  the  Kings,  January  6,  was  not  only  his  own  birth- 
day, but  also  the  day  upon  which  he  was  crowned.  And  an 
account  of  his  coronation  tells  us  that  after  the  ceremony  he 
made  an  offering  at  the  Shrine  of  Our  Lady  at  Pewe,  nearby, 
of  "  eleven  angels,"  one  for  each  year  of  his  young  life.  Ex- 
actly what  these  eleven  angels  were  no  one  now  knows ; 
they  may  have  been  gold  coins  with  an  angel  stamped  upon 
them,  or  they  may  have  been  small  images.  But  perhaps  he 
remembered  his  eleven  years  and  this  offering  when  he  told 
the  painter  to  surround  Mother  Mary  with  the  eleven  an- 
gels in  sapphire  blue  whom  you  see  in  the  picture.  One 
sees  at  least  that  they  are  his  angels,  for  each  wears  his 
special  badge,  the  Jewel  of  the  White  Hart,  and  the  Collar 
of  Broom-pods.  Almost  all  the  Magi  pictures  represent  one 
of  the  kings  as  kneeling,  with  the  two  others  standing  be- 
hind him,  and  one  can  imagine  Richard  boyishly  choosing 
the  other  two  kings.     He  was  crowned  in  Westminster  Ab- 


98 


THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 


bey,  so  it  is  natural  enough  that  one  of  them  should  be 
Edward  the  Confessor  who  founded  the  Abbey;  the  other, 
holding  an  arrow,  is  St.  Edmund,  an  early  king  of  England 
who  is  said  to  have  been  shot  to  death  with  arrows  by  the 
Danes,  because  he  refused  to  abandon  Christianity.  Joseph, 
too,  is  a  customary  figure  in  paintings  of  the  Adoration,  but 
cannot  you  hear  the  boy  king  saying,  "  No,  I  do  not  want 
St.  Joseph ;  my  father  died  in  midsummer  so  I  really  be- 
came king  about  the  time  of  St.  John's  Day,  if  I  am 
crowned  at  Epiphany;  so  I  will  have  St.  John  with  a 
lamb  and  Edward  the  Confessor;  and  Edward  shall  hold  a 
ring?"  There  is  a  pretty  story  that  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
wandering  in  the  disguise  of  a  beggar,  asked  alms  of  King 
Edward  the  Confessor;  and,  that  the  king,  rather  than  refuse 
a  poor  man,  gave  him  a  ring  from  his  finger,  because  he 
had  no  money  with  him.  And  it  would  be  so  like  a  boy 
not  to  care  that  the  two  St.  Johns  were  not  at  all  the  same. 
That  which  mattered  is  that  one  of  the  angels  was  holding 
toward  the  Holy  Child's  reaching  hands  the  banner  of  Eng- 
land as  the  gift  of  the  kneeling  boy. 


THE   CHILDREN'S  OWN   SAINT 


99 


The  Children's  Own  Saint 

What  a  most  convenient  thing  it  is  that  good  St.  Nicholas 
does  not  have  to  keep  the  Christmas  holiday  in  all  the  world 
at  once!  He  has  been  the  children's  own  saint,  you  know, 
ever  since  he  ceased  to  be  a  bishop  in  far-away  Asia  Minor. 
The  oldest  story  we  hear  of  him  is  that  once  three  little  boys 
on  their  way  to  school  at  Athens  stopped  over  night  at  an 
inn,  of  which  the  innkeeper  was  also  a  butcher,  and  a  robber 
besides.  This  wicked  man  killed  the  boys  in  the  night  and 
threw  their  bodies  into  his  salting  tub.  But  the  very  next 
morning  the  saint  walked  in  and  asked  for  them,  for  though  he 
was  only  Bishop  Nicholas  then,  he  knew  all  about  it  in  some 
wonderful  way.  The  trembling  butcher  took  him  out  to  the 
pork  barrel;  the  saint  struck  the  edge  of  it  sharply  with  his 
staff  and  called  the  boys  by  name.  Out  jumped  the  three  little 
pickles  all  alive,  and  of  course  the  wicked  butcher  was  punished 
and  Nicholas  became  the  school-boys'  saint. 

There  is  also  a  story  that  one  night  Bishop  Nicholas  wished 
to  carry  a  purse  of  gold  to  a  worthy  nobleman  who  was  so 
proud  and  so  unwilling  to  have  his  poverty  noticed  that  it  was 
a  difficult  matter  to  make  the  gift  without  hurting  his  feelings. 
When  the  house  was  reached  the  old  noble  was  to  be  seen 
through  the  window  fast  asleep  by  the  fire,  and  without  disturb- 
ing him  good  St.  Nicholas  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  wide  chim- 
ney and  dropped  the  purse,  intending  it  to  fall  on  the  hearth. 
But  as  the  old  man's  daughter  had  hung  her  father's  stockings 
by  the  fire  to  dry,  it  chanced  to  fall  into  one  of  them.     There  it 


ioo  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

was  found  the  next  day  and  most  opportunely  provided  a 
marriage  portion  for  the  oldest  daughter.  The  story  goes  on 
to  say  that  after  that  whenever  one  of  the  noble's  daughters 
was  of  marrying  age  he  hung  up  a  stocking,  —  and  St.  Nicho- 
las's gift  was  never  lacking. 

They  say  that  all  this  happened  early  in  December,  and  in 
some  countries  December  6  is  the  great  day  for  the  children. 
In  Holland,  on  St.  Nicholas  Eve,  December  5,  the  children  go 
out  with  their  parents  to  see  the  brilliantly  decorated  shops, 
and  in  the  doorways  of  many  of  them  stands  the  saint,  gor- 
geously dressed  and  handing  to  every  child  who  passes  a  tiny 
toy  or  a  sweet.  No  wonder  the  good  saint  must  needs  go  to 
the  seashore  for  a  day  before  his  next  heavy  job  of  being 
Santa  Claus  to  all  America  on  the  twenty-fifth,  —  to  say  noth- 
ing of  merry  England ! 

At  any  rate,  we  find  that  in  a  certain  seaport  of  southern 
Italy  it  is  the  sailors'  custom  on  December  6  to  take  the  im- 
age of  the  saint  from  the  beautiful  church  of  St.  Nicholas 
and,  with  a  long  procession  of  boats,  carry  it  far  out  to  sea. 
Toward  nightfall  they  return  and  in  the  glory  of  the  gold  and 
crimson  sunset  are  met  on  landing  by  all  the  townspeople. 
Hundreds  of  quaintly  dressed  pilgrims  from  the  country  round 
join  the  crowd  that  welcomes  the  home-coming  saint  with  songs, 
bonfires,  and  torches,  and  brings  him  back  to  his  own  place. 

His  next  appearance  is  in  those  countries  where  the  Greek 
Church  is  the  national  religion.  Their  Day  of  St.  Nicholas, 
which  is  December  6  elsewhere,  comes  upon  what  we  should 
call  December  19,  and  the  saint  is  supposed  to  bring  the  win- 


THE   CHILDREN'S  OWN   SAINT  101 

ter  with  him.  On  the  frozen  river  by  Peter's  city  it  is  cele- 
brated with  a  skating  and  sleighing  carnival.  Lines  of  track 
are  laid  down  on  the  ice  like  small-sized  street-car  lines.  Tiny 
cars  run  here  and  there  along  them,  back  and  forth  from  the 
smooth  ice-fields  roped  off  for  sleigh  races  or  skating  contests. 
Perhaps  it  was  in  that  cold  country  he  found  the  high  cap,  the 
furs,  and  the  coat  he  wears  for  his  hard  work  of  chimney 
scrambling  and  running  the  reindeer  express  on  the  Christmas 
Eve  we  know. 

Once  more  after  his  strenuous  American  holiday  week  is 
over  the  hard-worked  saint  appears  again.  From  the  little 
whitewashed  villages  of  Greece  north  to  ice-bound  Archangel 
and  east  even  to  Vladivostok  the  saint  swings  wearily  on  thou- 
sands of  wax-lighted  Christmas  trees  (their  Christmas  Eve 
comes,  you  must  remember,  thirteen  days  after  ours).  But 
he  is  a  sadly  wasted  saint  by  this  time  —  a  mere  waxen  image 
a  few  inches  long  —  able  only  to  dance  a  little  at  the  tip  of  a 
branch  of  a  Christmas  tree,  and  that  is  all  he  is  asked  to  do. 
But  in  some  houses  you  would  find  him  with  a  queer  cotton 
tassel  in  the  top  of  his  cap,  and  what  happens  then  is  this : 
some  boy  or  girl  comes  by,  touches  his  cotton  tassel  into  flame 
from  a  lighted  taper,  and  he  burns  and  melts  and  grows  shorter 
as  if  he  were  just  an  ordinary  wax  candle  until  he  is  all  gone. 

But  in  spite  of  that,  in  the  next  December,  wrhen  the  little 
children  in  Holland  beg  their  mothers  to  take  them  out  to  see 
the  lighted  shops,  there  he  is  again  with  his  bag  of  swTeets. 
And  if  you  want  to  know  what  happens  to  him  after  that  you 
will  only  have  to  read  this  story  over  again. 


102  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

The  Befana  Fair  in  Rome 

In  Rome  the  season  of  making  gifts  corresponding  to  our 
Christmas  comes  twelve  days  later,  and  the  gift-bringer  would 
not  be  called  Santa  Claus  or  Saint  Nicholas,  but  Befana,  a 
gruff  little  old  woman.  Perhaps  she  is  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  old  woman  of  whom  the  legend  is  told  that  she  was 
sweeping  out  her  house  when  the  Three  Kings  rode  by  with 
gifts  for  the  infant  Christ.  "  Come,"  they  said,  "  and  see  the 
Bambin  Gesu."  She  said  she  would  when  she  had  finished 
her  sweeping.  But  though  she  took  her  gifts  and  started,  she 
was  too  late  then,  of  course,  so  she  gave  the  presents  to  good 
children  and  bits  of  charcoal  to  those  who  had  been  naughty. 
The  name  is  really  a  short  form  of  Epifania,  the  Feast  of 
Epiphany,  and  it  is  given  both  to  the  gift-bringer  and  to  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  popular  festivals  ever  invented  to 
amuse  children  and  to  turn  grown  people  into  children.  It  is 
a  night  fair  opened  every  Eve  of  Epiphany  in  the  great  square 
called  Piazza  Navona,  where  long,  long  ago  one  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  Domitian,  once  had  his  race-course.  In  the  days 
just  after  Christmas  workmen  begin  to  bring  out  from  queer 
underground  storerooms  all  the  lumber  and  other  material 
needed  for  setting  up  booths  and  decorating  the  square  for 
the  Befana.  From  year  to  year  it  lies  somewhere,  ready  for 
use  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  when  needed  it  is  suddenly  pro- 
duced without  confusion,  marked  and  numbered,  all  ready  to 
be  put  together  and  regilded,  or  repainted,  or  hung  with  acres 
of  bright-colored  draperies.     The  Romans  are  masters  of  the 


THE   BEFANA   FAIR   IN   ROME  103 

art  of  managing  public  displays  and  change  the  empty,  windy 
square  as  if  by  magic  suddenly  into  a  great  oval  street  of 
booths  enclosing  the  whole  circus-shaped  space.  At  dark  on 
the  Eve  of  the  Epiphany  the  Befana  begins.  The  hundreds 
of  booths  are  choked  with  toys,  and  gleam  with  thousands  of 
little  lights.  In  the  open  spaces  the  moving  crowd  of  children, 
parents,  and  grandparents  grows  closer  and  closer  between 
sunset  and  midnight,  and  every  one  is  splitting  the  air  with 
some  sort  of  whistle,  horn,  or  trumpet.  Noise  is  the  chief 
need  of  a  successful  Befana,  and  the  first  thing  every  one  buys 
who  comes  must  be  a  tin  horn  or  one  of  the  grotesque  little 
figures  made  of  painted  clay,  always  with  a  whistle  in  some 
part  of  it.  Their  very  ugliness  is  attractive,  and  they  are 
daubed  with  a  kind  of  bright  and  harmless  paint  of  which 
every  Roman  child  remembers  the  taste  so  long  as  he  lives. 
Round  and  round  the  crowd  moves  in  a  stream  of  young,  old, 
and  middle-aged,  all  blowing  horns  and  whistles  with  a  ridicu- 
lously solemn  persistency,  bent  on  making  all  the  noise  it  is 
possible  to  get  out  of  one  small  toy.  Now  and  then  they  stop 
to  buy  at  some  booth,  or  to  greet  a  friend ;  one  group  attacks 
another  with  a  specially  strong  burst  of  noise  almost  too  much 
to  stand  when  shrill  whistles  are  brought  close  to  ears,  and 
there  are  shouts  of  laughter  when  the  party  which  can  make 
the  most  hideous  noise  drives  off  the  other  half  deaf  from  the 
din. 

In  one  long-remembered  year,  in  the  old  English  Protes- 
tant church  about  a  mile  away,  the  organ  was  rebuilt  and  the 
organist,  a    practical  Anglo-Saxon,  had  the  useless   old  pipes 


104  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

sold  at  the  night  fair  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  The  bray- 
ing of  the  high  cracked  reeds  was  frightful  and  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

Thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  throng  the  square; 
even  under  the  clear  winter  sky  it  is  not  cold;  the  flaring, 
smoking,  wind-blown  torches  throw  strange  shadows  down 
upon  the  old  women  who  behind  the  booths  sit  warming  their 
skinny  hands  over  earthen  pots  of  glowing  coals.  They  look 
on  without  a  smile  on  their  wrinkled  faces  while  their  sons 
and  daughters  sell  little  old  women  of  clay,  the  very  images 
of  their  mothers,  to  passing  customers.  And  there  is  no  con- 
fusion, no  accident,  no  trouble,  there  are  no  drunken  men  and 
no  pickpockets.     But  Romans  are  not  like  other  people. 

The  Golden  Carol 

(Of  Melchior,  Balthazar,  and  Gaspar,  the  Three  Kings.) 

We  saw  the  light  shine  out  a-far, 

On  Christmas  in  the  morning, 
And  straight  we  knew  Christ's  Star  it  was, 
Bright  beaming  in  the  morning. 
Then  did  we  fall  on  bended  knee, 
On  Christmas  in  the  morning, 
And  prais'd  the  Lord,  who'd  let  us  see 
His  glory  at  its  dawning. 

Oh !    ever  thought  be  of  His  Name, 
On  Christmas  in  the  morning, 


BABOUSCKA  105 

Who  bore  for  us  both  grief  and  shame, 

Afflictions  sharpest  scorning. 
And  may  we  die  (when  death  shall  come), 

On  Christmas  in  the  morning, 
And  see  in  heav'n,  our  glorious  home, 

The  Star  of  Christmas  morning. 


Babouscka 

It  was  the  night  the  dear  Christ  Child  came  to  Bethle- 
hem. In  a  country  far  away  from  Him,  an  old,  old  woman 
named  Babouscka  sat  in  her  snug  little  house  by  her  warm 
fire.  The  wind  was  drifting  the  snow  outside  and  howling 
down  the  chimney,  but  it  only  made  Babouscka's  fire  burn 
more  brightly. 

"  How  glad  I  am  that  I  may  stay  indoors  !  "  said  Babouscka, 
holding  her  hands  out  to  the  bright  blaze. 

But  suddenly  she  heard  a  loud  rap  at  her  door.  She 
opened  it,  and  her  candle  shone  on  three  old  men  standing 
outside  in  the  snow.  Their  beards  were  as  white  as  the  snow, 
and  so  long  that  they  reached  the  ground.  Their  eyes  shone 
kindly  in  the  light  of  Babouscka's  candle,  and  their  arms  were 
full  of  precious  things  —  boxes  of  jewels,  and  sweet-smelling 
oils,  and  ointments. 

"  We  have  travelled  far,  Babouscka,"  they  said,  "  and  we  stop 
to  tell  you  of  the  Baby  Prince  born  this  night  in  Bethlehem. 
He  comes  to  rule  the  world  and  teach  all  men  to  be  loving  and 
true.     We  carry  Him  gifts.     Come  with  us,  Babouscka !  " 


106  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

But  Babouscka  looked  at  the  driving  snow,  and  then  inside 
at  her  cozy  room  and  the  crackling  fire.  "  It  is  too  late  for  me 
to  go  with  you,  good  sirs,"  she  said,  "  the  weather  is  too  cold." 
She  went  inside  again  and  shut  the  door,  and  the  old  men 
journeyed  on  to  Bethlehem  without  her.  But  as  Babouscka 
sat  by  her  fire,  rocking,  she  began  to  think  about  the  little 
Christ  Child,  for  she  loved  all  babies. 

"  To-morrow  I  will  go  to  find  Him,"  she  said ;  "  to-morrow, 
when  it  is  light,  and  I  will  carry  Him  some  toys." 

So  when  it  was  morning  Babouscka  put  on  her  long  cloak, 
and  took  her  staff,  and  filled  her  basket  with  the  pretty  things 
a  baby  would  like,  gold  balls,  and  wooden  toys,  and  strings  of 
silver  cobwebs  —  and  she  set  out  to  find  the  Christ  Child. 

But,  oh !  Babouscka  had  forgotten  to  ask  the  three  old 
men  the  road  to  Bethlehem,  and  they  had  travelled  so  far 
through  the  night  that  she  could  not  overtake  them.  Up  and 
down  the  roads  she  hurried,  through  woods  and  fields  and 
towns,  saying  to  whomsoever  she  met :  "I  go  to  find  the 
Christ  Child.  Where  does  He  lie?  I  bring  some  pretty  toys 
for  His  sake." 

But  no  one  could  tell  her  the  way  to  go,  and  they  all  said, 
"  Farther  on,  Babouscka,  farther  on."  So  she  travelled  on,  and 
on,  and  on  for  years  and  years  —  but  she  never  found  the  little 
Christ  Child. 

They  say  that  old  Babouscka  is  travelling  still,  looking  for 
Him.  When  it  comes  Christmas  Eve,  and  the  children  are 
lying  fast  asleep,  Babouscka  comes  softly  through  the  snowy 
fields  and  towns,  wrapped  in  her  long  cloak  and  carrying  her 


THE  THREE   KINGS  107 

basket  on  her  arm.  With  her  staff  she  raps  gently  at  the 
doors  and  goes  inside  and  holds  her  candle  close  to  the  little 
children's  faces. 

"  Is  He  here  ?  "  she  asks.  "  Is  the  little  Christ  Child  here  ?  " 
And  then  she  turns  sorrowfully  away  again,  crying,  "  Farther 
on,  farther  on."  But  before  she  leaves  she  takes  a  toy  from 
her  basket  and  lays  it  beside  the  pillow  for  a  Christmas  gift. 
"  For  His  sake,"  she  says  softly  and  then  hurries  on  through 
the  years  and  forever  in  search  of  the  little  Christ  Child. 

The  Three  Kings 

If  you  had  been  a  child  in  Provence  when  Mistral  was  a 
boy,  you  might  perhaps  have  joined  the  excited  party  of  curly- 
headed  boys  and  fair-haired  girls  in  hoods  and  clacking  wooden 
shoes  who  went  with  him  to  meet  the  Three  Kings,  the  Wise 
Men  from  the  East,  coming  to  worship  the  Holy  Child  on  the 
night  before  Epiphany.  Mistral  told  of  it  long  afterwards  in 
this  way :  — 

With  hearts  beating  and  eyes  bright  we  started  forth  on 
the  road  to  Aries,  bearing  our  gifts  of  welcome,  cakes  for  the 
Kings,  figs  for  the  boy  pages,  sweet  hay  for  the  tired  camels. 
The  wind  blew  cold,  the  robin  and  wren  hopped  shivering  in 
the  branches  of  the  leafless  trees.  The  fields  were  empty 
except  for  perhaps  an  old  woman  picking  up  sticks,  or  a  ragged 
snail-gatherer  under  the  hedge. 

"  Where  are  you  going  so  late,  my  little  ones  ?  "  some  one 
would  ask. 


108  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

"  We  go  to  meet  the  Kings,"  we  said,  singing  and  laughing, 
sliding  and  running  along  the  white,  wind-swept  road.  But 
the  daylight  faded,  the  black,  pointed  cypress  trees  hid  the  bell- 
tower  of  Maillane,  and  the  long,  white  road  stretched  away 
empty.  .  .  .  Then  we  met  a  shepherd,  his  long,  brown  cloak 
held  tight  around  him. 

"  Have  you  seen  the  Kings  ?     Are  they  still  a  long  way  off  ?  " 

"  Ah !  the  Kings  1  You  should  see  them  soon.  They  are 
not  so  far  away." 

Then  we  set  off  running  again,  with  our  gifts  for  the  Kings 
and  the  pages,  and  handfuls  of  hay  for  the  camels.  The  brav- 
est of  us  flagged  a  little  as  a  great  cloud  over  the  mountain 
hid  the  sun,  when  suddenly  a  flash  of  golden  splendor  and 
a  glory  of  yellow  and  crimson  shone  just  where  the  white  road 
curved  from  behind  the  mountain. 

"  The  Kings !  The  Kings !  See  their  mantles !  See  the 
banners !     They  are  coming." 

And  so  we  stood  amazed;  but  instead  of  growing  brighter 
as  if  the  Kings  were  coming  nearer,  the  glory  faded  with  the 
sunset  and  we  found  ourselves  alone  in  the  dark  highway. 

"  Which  way  did  the  Kings  go  ?  " 

"They  have  gone  behind  the  mountain." 

The  white  owls  hooted,  the  wind  was  chill,  and  night- 
shadows  frightened  us ;  so  close  together  with  backward 
glances  we  hurried  toward  the  village  again.  The  hay  we 
threw  away,  but  the  cakes  we  had  brought  to  give  the  Kings 
and  the  figs  for  the  boy  pages  —  they  were  comforting.  And 
at  home  our  mothers  asked  us  :    "  Well,  did  you  see  them  ?  " 


THE   THREE   KINGS  109 

"Only  a  long  way  off.     They  went  behind  the  mountain." 

"  But  what  road  did  you  take  ?  " 

"The  road  to  Aries." 

"  Ah,  my  poor  lambs  —  but  the  Kings  never  come  by  that 
road.  They  come  from  the  East  —  you  should  have  taken  the 
Roman  road.  Ah,  the  beautiful  sight  when  they  entered  Mail- 
lane!  the  banners  and  trumpets  !  the  pages  leading  the  camels  ! 
But  what  a  show !  Now  they  are  gone  to  the  church  to  offer 
their  adoration.     After  supper  you  shall  go  and  see  them." 

Suppers  were  swallowed  quickly,  mine  at  my  grandmother's, 
and  then  we  all  ran  to  the  church.  Sure  enough,  high  above 
the  manger  hung  the  glittering  star,  and  on  bended  knees 
before  the  Holy  Child  were  the  Three  Kings  —  Gaspard,  in  a 
crimson  cloak,  with  gifts  of  gold ;  Melchior,  in  yellow,  offering 
incense;  and  Balthasar,  in  a  mantle  blue,  presenting  a  vase  of 
myrrh.  How  reverently  we  admired  the  gayly  dressed  pages 
who  carried  the  Kings'  long  trains,  and  the  great  camels  whose 
heads  and  humps  rose  high  above  St.  Joseph's  ass  and  the 
oxen!  .  .  . 

Many  a  time  since  those  days  I  have  been  on  the  Aries 
road  at  this  season  when  the  robin  and  wren  haunt  the  haw- 
thorne  hedges.  The  snail-gatherer  still  searches  under  the 
hedge  and  the  owls  hoot  in  the  winter  evening.  But  I  see  no 
more  in  the  glory  of  the  sunset  clouds  the  banners  of  the 
Kings. 

"  Which  way  did  they  go,  the  Kings  ?  " 

"  Behind  the  mountain." 


no  THE   CHILDREN'S   BOOK  OF   CHRISTMAS 

Christmas   Peace 

That  sweetly  prophetic  evening  silence,  before  the  great 
feast  of  Good- Will,  does  not  come  over  everything  each  year, 
even  in  a  lonely  cottage  on  an  abandoned  farm  in  Connecticut, 
than  which  you  cannot  possibly  imagine  anything  more  silent 
or  more  remote  from  the  noise  of  the  world.  Sometimes  it 
rains  in  torrents  just  on  that  night,  sometimes  it  blows  a 
raging  gale  that  twists  the  leafless  birches  and  elms  and 
hickory  trees  like  dry  grass  and  bends  the  dark  firs  and 
spruces  as  if  they  were  feathers,  and  you  can  hardly  be  heard 
unless  you  shout,  for  the  howling  and  screaming  and  whistling 
of  the  blast. 

But  now  and  then,  once  in  four  or  five  years  perhaps,  the 
feathery  snow  lies  a  foot  deep,  fresh-fallen,  on  the  still  country 
side  and  in  the  woods ;  and  the  waxing  moon  sheds  her  large 
light  on  all,  and  Nature  holds  her  breath  to  wait  for  the  happy 
day  and  tries  to  sleep,  but  cannot  from  sheer  happiness  and 
peace.  Indoors,  the  fire  is  glowing  on  the  wide  hearth,  a  great 
bed  of  coals  that  will  last  all  night  and  be  enough,  because  it  is 
not  bitter  weather,  but  only  cold  and  clear  and  still,  as  it  should 
be ;  or  if  there  is  only  a  poor  stove,  the  iron  door  is  open  and 
a  comfortable,  cheery  red  light  shines  out  from  within  upon  the 
battered  iron  plate  and  the  wooden  floor  beyond ;  and  the  older 
people  sit  around  it,  not  saying  much,  and  thinking  with  their 
hearts  rather  than  with  their  heads ;  but  small  boys  and  girls 
know  that  interesting  things  have  been  happening  in  the 
kitchen  all  the  afternoon,  and  are  rather  glad  that  the  supper 


CHRISTMAS   PEACE  in 

was  not  very  good,  because  there  will  be  more  room  for  good 
things  to-morrow  ;  and  the  grown-ups  and  the  children  have 
made  up  any  little  differences  of  opinion  they  may  have  had 
before  supper  time,  because  Good-Will  must  reign,  and  reign 
alone,  like  Alexander ;  so  that  there  is  nothing  at  all  to  regret, 
and  nothing  hurts  anybody  any  more,  and  they  are  all  happy 
in  just  waiting  for  King  Christmas  to  open  the  door  softly  and 
make  them  all  great  people  in  his  kingdom.  But  if  it  is  the 
right  sort  of  house,  he  is  already  looking  in  through  the  win- 
dow, to  be  sure  that  every  one  is  all  ready  for  him,  and  that 
nothing  has  been  forgotten. 


